the US patent No. 3,941,932 has the german equivalent DE 2426474. The
dutch application NL 7308103 serves as priority for both patents. Try
the Esp@ce Level II database (http://ep.dips.org) for a quick and free
confirmation of this family information.
In addition, some comments to the German patent numbering system:
The patent number DE 2426474 represents both the patent application and
the granted patent. In order to specify document kinds additional codes
are used. For instance, A1 stands for unexamined patent applications
(Offenlegungsschrift), C1 for examined patents (Patentschrift).
C-Publications exist since 1981. Before 1981, the code B was used for
examined accepted specifications (Auslegeschrift).
The code 2426474 is not simply a continued number. The 24 at the
beginning represents the application year 1974 (74=50+24). The 26474 is
a continued number within the year 1974.
>From 1995 the German Patent Office has changed its numbering systems.
Now, patent numbers have the format DE 1YYNNNNN (e. g. DE 19512345). The
1 represents patent publications. 95 gives the application year. And
again, 12345 is a continued number within this year.
Regards,
Joerg Ohms
-- WissInfo GmbH Dr. Joerg Ohms Katharinenstr. 7 D-79106 Freiburg Phone +49 761 383254 Fax +49 761 383269 E-Mail joerg.ohms@wissinfo.com URL http://www.wissinfo.com