Occurring in a patent document, search report, or in another document is a reference to another document, which may affect the patentability of a (claimed) invention.
If the citation refers to a patent document, it states at least who is the national or regional office which published the document, the serial number and, usually, the publication date of that document.
If the citation refers to a scientific article or a book, it consists of the title of the periodical or book, the title of the article, the volume and page number and, usually, the publication date. A citation may also make reference to an oral disclosure, use, exhibition or other means of disclosure.
