Patent classification

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Patent classifications are used to organize patent documents on the basis of the technical facts described in them. They allow search of patent documents, which is independent from that used in them language and terminology.

General

The classifications used in the patent area have a mono-hierarchical structure (tree structure). The arrangement of the subdivisions (sections, classes, groups) of a classification is called a classification directory. The subdivisions are identified by classification symbols and the content (coverage) of the subdivisions is determined by their titles. Changes to the classification registers are called revisions.

Classification of patent documents in the classification systems

A patent document is classified in a patent classification by assigning the relevant classification symbol (s). This work is usually carried out by the examiners from the relevant patent offices. Several classification symbols from different areas of a classification can be assigned to cross-technology patent documents. If the classification symbols assigned to a patent document are changed, one speaks of a reclassification of the patent document. Reclassification is often the result of a revision.

Use for patent research

In combination with the corresponding patent databases (or collections), patent classifications enable language-independent searches of patent documents. The search is based on the classification symbols, with all patent documents to which the entered classification symbol was assigned being output as hits. In addition to text research, this type of patent search offers an important option for determining the state of the art . Combined classification and text research is also frequently used.

Brief description of individual patent classifications

IPC (International Patent Classification)

With the help of the IPC , patent documents have been uniformly classified worldwide since 1975. This creates a common ground that enables fast, cross-country research of patent documents. The IPC also forms the basis for more finely subdivided patent classifications (ECLA, DEKLA, FI). Offices that use their own internal classification system (e.g. EPA, USPTO, JPO) also mark their patent documents according to the IPC. In these cases, the labeling is partly done using concordance lists, which often leads to incorrectly assigned IPC symbols if there are major differences between the classification systems. This is especially the case when converting the USPC data of the US documents into the corresponding IPC data.

ECLA (European Patent Classification)

The ECLA is the internal classification of the European Patent Office (EPO) . The ECLA is an extension of the IPC and has about twice as many subdivisions as this one. According to the ECLA, mainly the PCT minimum documentation is classified. As of January 1, 2013, the ECLA in the European Patent Office will be replaced by the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC).

CPC (Cooperative Patent Classification)

The Cooperative Patent Classification is a joint classification of the European Patent Office (EPA) and the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) . At the EPO, this classification will replace the previously valid ECLA on January 1, 2013. From January 2015, the USPTO also introduced the CPC classification, which replaced the previously used USPC classification (with the exception of patents for seeds and plants, design patents).

DEKLA (German classification)

Together with the IPC, DEKLA forms the internal classification of the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . The DEKLA is an extension of the IPC and has around 40,000 subdivisions. The IPC and DEKLA together have around 110,000 subdivisions. The DEKLA / IPC helps the examiners of the DPMA to maintain their examination material (patent documents that are required for the patent examination). Only the IPC is shown on the German patent documents, which is awarded independently of the DEKLA / IPC.

FI (file index)

FI is the internal classification of the Japanese Patent Office (JPO, Japan Patent Office). Like the ECLA and DEKLA, FI is an extension of the IPC and is used exclusively for the classification of Japanese patent documents. Not all IPC revisions have been transferred to the FI system, so that this is still based on old IPC editions in some areas. This should be taken into account when searching for and researching with FI symbols.

F-term

The F-term system is another classification system that is used for the classification of Japanese patent documents. The F-term system was developed based on the IPC or FI (i.e. technical areas of IPC and FI were implemented in parallel in the F-term system), but has a completely different structure. Here patent documents are sometimes classified according to different aspects than in the IPC / FI. In addition, the documents in a certain technical area are classified according to several aspects (multi-aspect classification), which enables very specific search queries.

USPC (US classification system)

The USPC is the internal classification of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO, United States Patent and Trademark Office) and is used exclusively for the classification of US patent documents. The USPC has a different structure than the IPC, which leads to errors in the automatic generation of the IPC symbols shown on the US patent documents (see above). When searching for US patent documents, it is therefore more advantageous to use the USPC.

At the beginning of 2015, the previously used USPC classification was replaced by the CPC classification. As of January, newly registered patents will only be classified using the CPC. An exception are patents for seeds and plants as well as design patents, these are still classified according to the USPC.

DWPI Classification (Derwent World Patents Index Classification)

DWPI Classification is a simple classification system used to categorize patent documents in the fields of chemistry, engineering, and electronics. This work is carried out by employees of the Thomson Reuters company.

Overview of the individual patent classifications

Patent classification IPC ECLA CPC DEKLA FI F-term USPC DWPI classification
Creation of the classification international, administered by WIPO EPA EPA , USPTO DPMA JPO JPO USPTO Thomson Reuters
Coverage of the technical areas total total total total total approx. 70% of the IPC total Chemistry, engineering, electronics
Coverage of the countries > 100 PCT minimum documentation unknown AT, CH, DE, EP, FR, GB, JP, US, WO JP JP US 41
Time coverage bibl .: from approx. 1975, rekl .: mainly from 1920; 2 unknown from 1912/1914 from 1912/1914 from 1940 from 1974
IPC or extension of the IPC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Number of subdivisions (approx.) 70,000 160,000 250,000 110,000 190,000 340,000 130,000 291
Revision cycles The basic version every 3 years, the full version every 3 months per month unknown DEKLA subgroups: possible every day, IPC components: like the IPC 2 years 1 year 2 months
Reclassification bibl .: no, claim: yes 2 Yes unknown Yes; 3 Yes Yes from 1940
Research in non-commercial databases; 4th DEPATISnet, esp @ cenet esp @ cenet esp @ cenet DEPATISnet IPDL IPDL USPTO Patent / Patent Application Full-text and Image Database No

2 bibl. = bibliographical IPC, rec. = reclassified IPC.
3 Reclassification after IPC revisions is only partial.
4 When doing database research, you should consider the time and country coverage of the respective database.

Further classifications of property rights

For other protection areas of intellectual property, there are other classifications: the International Classification of Goods and Services (Nice Classification, see Nice Classification ), International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks ( Vienna Classification ) and the International Classification for Industrial Designs Locarno Classification .

Web links

Lists of patent classifications

Databases

Databases that enable a patent search based on classification symbols.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Making the Switch from USPC to CPC: What Attorneys and Searchers Need to Know - Technology & Patent Research . In: Technology & Patent Research . October 12, 2015 ( tprinternational.com [accessed October 6, 2016]).
  2. ↑ Making the Switch from USPC to CPC: What Attorneys and Searchers Need to Know - Technology & Patent Research . In: Technology & Patent Research . October 12, 2015 ( tprinternational.com [accessed October 6, 2016]).