How to Cite a Patent in Harvard (Cite Them Right 12th edition)

Inventions, intellectual property, and patent filings.

Example in Harvard (Cite Them Right 12th edition)

Page, L. (2001) ‘Method for node ranking in a linked database’. Available at: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6285999B1/en.
In-text (Page, 2001)

What Harvard (Cite Them Right 12th edition) includes

These are the details of the example above that the style prints, so they are the ones to collect for your own source.

  • Patent Title
  • Inventor(s)
  • Date Issued
  • URL

The patent document header contains the patent number, filing date, and issue date. The assignee (owner) may differ from the inventors listed.

The formatting comes from the style's own file, so check the finer points against your guide. What to check by hand in Harvard (Cite Them Right 12th edition).

A Patent in other styles

APA 7th edition MLA 9th edition Chicago 18th edition (notes and bibliography) IEEE Vancouver

Other sources in Harvard (Cite Them Right 12th edition)

Website Book Journal Article Newspaper Article Book Chapter Thesis/Dissertation Report Video Podcast/Broadcast Magazine Article Software Dataset Hearing Standard Conference Paper Manuscript Review Book Review Classic Work Reference Entry Dictionary Entry Encyclopedia Entry Periodical Collection Interview Speech Song Musical Score Graphic Figure Map Performance Event Pamphlet Preprint Document Post Blog Post Personal Communication Generative AI