Bates numbering (also known as Bates stamping, Bates branding, Bates coding or Bates labeling) is used in the legal, medical, and business fields to place identifying numbers and/or date/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. Bates stamping can be used to mark and identify images with copyrights by putting a company name, logo and/or legal copyright on them.