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Definition: A Bates number is a unique number that is added to a document or its pages to identify it. It is named after the machine made by the Bates Manufacturing Company that stamps the number. Bates numbers are commonly used to identify documents during legal proceedings.

Bates numbers (bates stamps, bates labels) are numbers used to uniquely identify pages within a set of documents. Bates numbers are used in almost all law firms as an agreed-upon method between parties to ensure a common naming convention when referring to given pages.

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. Bates numbering, named for the Bates Automatic Numbering-Machine, assigns an arbitrary unique identifier to each page.

Traditionally the numbering system only went up to 4 digits but there is no set amount of digits for Bates Numbering.

Bates numbering has been used for well over a century. It gained its name from the Bates Automatic Numbering-Machine, patented in the 1890s by Edwin G. Bates. This sequential-numbering stamp was used to manually mark each page in a record.

For example, if XYZ company produces 25,000 pages to an opponent, it may Bates number the production "XYZ_000001 - XYZ_025000." Some lawyers refer to Bates numbers as Bates stamps because at one time the numbers were physically stamped on each page.

How Does Bates Numbering Work? Bates numbers (bates stamps, bates labels) are numbers used to uniquely identify pages within a set of documents. Bates numbers are used in almost all law firms as an agreed-upon method between parties to ensure a common naming convention when referring to given pages.