{{Short description|Document identification system}} right|thumb|Bates Automatic Numbering-Machine, approx 1906, with a number printed by the machine '''Bates numbering''' (also known as '''Bates stamping''', '''Bates branding''', '''Bates coding''', '''Bates labeling''' or '''crash numbering''') is a method of sequentially numbering pages or documents with a reference number.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Numbering Machines - Jaap's Mechanical Calculators Page |url=https://www.jaapsch.net/mechcalc/numbering.htm |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=www.jaapsch.net}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Justin |date=2024-01-19 |title=The Comprehensive Guide to Bates Numbering |url=https://www.everlaw.com/blog/best-practices/the-comprehensive-guide-to-bates-numbering/ |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=Cloud-Native Ediscovery Software {{!}} Everlaw |language=en-US}}</ref> A hand-operated Bates numbering device is used to "stamp" a number on a page, and the number automatically advances after each stamping.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> Bates numbering is used in the legal, medical, and business fields to place one or more of identifying numbers, date and time marks on images and documents as they are scanned or processed, for example, during the discovery stage of preparations for trial or identifying business receipts.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> Bates stamping can be used to mark and identify images with copyrights by putting a company name, logo, and/or legal copyright on them.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> This process provides identification, protection, and automatic consecutive numbering of the pages.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
==History== The Bates Automatic Numbering-Machine or Bates stamper is named after the inventor Edwin Granville Bates of New York City.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Office workers used it to stamp consecutive numbers or numbers in a repeated pattern onto pages of documents.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Consilio {{!}} Blog {{!}} The Ultimate Guide of Best Practices for Bates Numbering |url=https://www.consilio.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-of-best-practices-for-bates-numbering |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=www.consilio.com |language=en}}</ref> The mechanism -- an improvement patented by Edwin G. Bates in 1891 -- automatically changed the number, making quick work for staff.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Bates Numbering Machine, 1919-1925 - The Henry Ford |url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/449636/ |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=www.thehenryford.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/edisonmicrofilm158 |title=Edison Microfilm Reel 158 |language=English}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> Bates obtained several US patents for the device in the late 1800s and early 1900s,<ref>[https://patents.google.com/?inventor=Edwin+G+Bates,Edwin+Granville+Bates&sort=old Google patents for Edwin G Bates and Edwin Granville Bates]</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Office |first=USA Patent |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Report/wN-l3SF0Ax0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=edwin+g+bates+aug+1907&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover |title=Annual Report: 1907 (1908) |date=1908 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en}}</ref> and in 1895 he received a Longstreth award from the Franklin Institute for his invention of a typographic number machine.<ref>[https://www.fi.edu/laureates/edwin-g-bates Edwin G. Bates | Longstreth]</ref>
The earliest patent claimed a "new and useful improvement in Consecutive-Numbering Machines",<ref>[https://patents.google.com/patent/US484391A/ Patent US484391A]</ref> indicating that Bates was not the originator of the idea.<ref name=":1" /> Bates' objective was "generally to increase the effectiveness, simplicity and compactness of machines of this general character".<ref name=":1" /> Each time the machine was pressed down onto a sheet of paper, a rotating wheel was moved incrementally.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The original machine described by Bates allowed numbering with a four-digit sequence, ranging from 0000 to 9999.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> For example, page 852 in a document set would be 0852.<ref name=":3" /> Courts and law firms quickly adopted this system.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
In later versions, the machine could be set to stamp the number multiple times, i.e., duplicates or triplicates.<ref name=":1" /> One drawback was the ink and pad: they could dry, making the numbers illegible.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waters |first=C. E. |title=Quick-Drying Stamp-Pad Inks |date=February 8, 1938 |publisher=U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, N ATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS |series=Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards |volume=20 |location=Washington |publication-date=April 1938 |pages=543-547}} [https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/20/jresv20n4p543_A1b.pdf]</ref>
Operating as ''Bates Manufacturing Company'' since its incorporation in 1890,<ref name="edison"/> Bates later used the name ''Bates Machine Company'', later renamed to ''Bates Numbering Machine Company.''<ref name=":1" /> This company became ''Roberts Numbering Machine Company''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="roberts"/><ref name="federal"/>
In 1921, Clarence S. A. Williams purchased the company and served as its president until 1958.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="edison"/>
In 1993, General Binding Corporation (now General Binding LLC) acquired Bates Manufacturing Company.<ref name=":1" /><ref>[https://archive.org/details/internationaldir0000unse_u6x3/page/314/mode/1up International directory of company histories. Vol. 10] (1995) p.314 {{ISBN|9781558623255}}</ref><gallery> File:Bates.png|Bates Numbering Machine in the Newspaper File:Bates2.png|Bates Numbering Machine in the Newspaper File:Bates5.png|Bates Numbering Machine in the Newspaper File:Bates3.png|Bates Numbering Machine in the Newspaper File:Bates8.png|Bates Numbering Machine in the Newspaper </gallery>
==Usage== thumb|Bates Numbering Machine in the Newspaper Bates numbering is commonly used as an organizational method to label and identify legal documents.<ref name=":0" /> Named for the Bates Automatic Numbering-Machine, it assigns an arbitrary unique numeric or alphanumeric identifier to each page, making each page easily identifiable and retrievable.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> Such identification may be solely numeric or may contain a combination of letters and numbers (alphanumeric).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> There is no standard method for numbering documents, nor is there a standard type face used for such numbers.<ref name=":2" />
Bates numbers are used in the legal, medical and business fields.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2025-12-27 |title=Thomson Reuters, Practical Law (Canada) |url=https://ca.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/9-621-2336?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true |website=thomsonreuters.com |publisher=Thomson Reuters}}</ref> Nearly all American law firms use Bates stamps, though the use of manual hand-stamping is becoming increasingly rare because of the rise in electronic numbering, mostly in Portable Document Format (PDF) files rather than printed material.<ref name=":2" /> During the discovery phase of litigation, a large number of documents might require the use of unique identifiers for each page of each document for reference and retrieval.<ref name=":2" />
Manual Bates stampers use a self-inking mechanism with four to seven numbered wheels. Some stampers allow for consecutive, repeat, duplicate, and triplicate numbering.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
Self-adhesive labels printed with Bates numbers are common today, as is electronic discovery (eDiscovery) software that can electronically "stamp" documents stored as computer files by superimposing numbers onto them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=ONeill |first=Alison |title=How to Add Bates Numbers to a PDF with eDiscovery Software |url=https://www.digitalwarroom.com/blog/how-to-add-bates-numbers-to-a-pdf-with-ediscovery-software |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=www.digitalwarroom.com |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tips for using Bates Numbering in PDF files {{!}} Adobe Acrobat |url=https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/hub/what-is-bates-numbering-pdf.html |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=www.adobe.com}}</ref>
Bates numbering is neither universally used nor consistently applied; for example, ''The Bluebook'' style guide does not reference it.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=The Bluebook {{!}} A Uniform System of Citation |url=https://www.legalbluebook.com/bluebook/v21/quick-style-guide |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=The Bluebook |language=en}}</ref> But, consistent with ''The Bluebook'', the first citation should make it very clear what is being referenced, such as (Bates Jones000001) or (Bates d123-002), and subsequent consecutive cites should follow the usual practice of ''Id.'' followed by the page number, such as (''Id.'' 000017) or (''Id.'' -017).<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" />
==See also== * Page footer
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="edison">{{cite web| url = https://edison.rutgers.edu/life-of-edison/companies/company-details/office-machinery-and-supplies/bates-manufacturing-company | title = Bates Manufacturing Company }} - The Thomas Edison Papers at Rutgers University. Summary of company history of Bates Manufacturing Co.</ref> <ref name="federal">{{cite book| url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3555547&view=1up&seq=914 | title = Federal Reporter vol 172 - Bates Mfg. Co. v. Bates Numbering Mach. Co. - Circuit Court, D. New Jersey. | series = National reporter system--United States series |date=25 September 1909| publisher = West Publishing Co. }}</ref> <ref name="roberts">{{cite journal| url = https://academic.oup.com/rpc/article/53/4/79/1669397 | title = The Roberts Numbering Machine Co. v. Davis - Reports of Patent, Design and Trade Mark Cases, 11 March 1936 | journal = Reports of Patent, Design and Trade Mark Cases | date = 11 March 1936 | volume = 53 | issue = 4 | pages = 79–88 | doi = 10.1093/rpc/53.4.79 | doi-access = free }}</ref> }}
==External links== {{Commons}} *[https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/hub/how-to/what-is-bates-numbering-pdf How to use Bates Numbering in PDFs], by Adobe *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiU3Dqr86XU How to add Bates Stamp to a PDF document] via YouTube
{{Authority control}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates Numbering}} Category:Legal documents Category:Unique identifiers