Wikipedia Citations in Patents Up 59 Percent

The number of U.S. patents issued last year that contain one or more references to Wikipedia articles totalled 809, a 59 percent jump from 2008. Several years ago the USPTO banned patent examiners from using Wikipedia as a source of information for determining patentability of inventions. However, examiners and applicants continue to cite it. Wikipedia articles represent only a fraction of interet resources cited in patents. More than 17,000 U.S. patents issued last year have one or more cited references containing a URL.