a set of patents, which have one or more Priority Numbers in common
All the equivalents of a specification.
All the equivalent patent publications corresponding to a single invention, covering different geographical regions.
All the patent application and patent documents that relate to he same invention regardless of the patent office involved. The patent family concept is used in patent searching.
(famille de brevets) A set of patents taken in multiple countries to protect the same invention. (OECD, 2005)
A patent family is all the patents and patent applications resulting from a specific patent application.