Classification Detail
International Patent Classification (IPC-2016.01) Version 2016
Basic Bibliographic Information
Status:
Operational
Type:
To Be Determined
Citation:
N/A
ISBN:
N/A
Website:
Custodian:
World Intellectual Property Organization
Available Formats:
PDF, XML, Text, HTML
Year Adopted:
2015
Year Published:
2016
Available Languages (besides English):
Français, Español, العربية, Pусский, 中文, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Slovak Details...
Français
Classification internationale des brevets (CIB-2016.01)
Español
Clasificación Internacional de Patentes (CIP-2016.01)
العربية
التصنيف الدولي للبراءات
Pусский
Международная патентная классификация (МПК-2016.01)
中文
国际专利分类 (IPC-2016.01)
Czech
-
Dutch
(IPC-2016.01)
Estonian
-
German
Internationale Patentklassifikation (IPC-2016.01)
Japanese
-
Korean
-
Polish
Międzynarodowa Klasyfikacja Patentowa (MKP-2016.01)
Portuguese
Classificação Internacional de Patentes (IPC-2016.01)
Serbian
Međunarodna klasifikacija patenata (MKP-2016.01)
Availability:
Fully available in all of the languages above
Purpose of the Classification
Statistical Domains:
2.9 Science, technology and innovation
Purpose:
Classifying patent applications and utility models according to different technical areas;
A useful search tool for retrieval of patent documents in the search for 'prior art'.
Main Applications:
Classifying applications for Patents and Utility models
Main Users:
Patent-issuing authorities, potential inventors, research and development institutions, and others concerned with the application or development of technology, intellectual property statistics experts, as well as public users.
Methodology
Scope:
N/A
Concept Being Classified:
inventions and other technical information
Statistical Units:
N/A
Main Principles:
N/A
Relationships to Other International Classifications:
Related To:
Major Differences (Scope, Structure, and Concepts):
International Patent Classification (IPC) - Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) was initiated as a joint partnership between the USPTO and the EPO where the Offices have agreed to harmonize their existing classification systems (ECLA and USPC, respectively) and migrate towards a common classification scheme. The migration to CPC was developed based in large part on the existing European Classification System (ECLA) modified to ensure compliance with the International Patent Classification system (IPC) standards administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
USPC-to-IPC Reverse Concordance
Classification Structure
Definition of Structure:
Level:
Level Name:
Code Format:
Number of Items:
Level 1
Section
A
B
Level 3
Class
H01…
130 items
Level 4
Subclass
H01S
639 items
Level 5
Main Group
H01S 3/00
7437 items
Level 6
Subgroup
H01S 3/02
65158 items
Criteria for Definition of Levels:
Hierachical strucuture, from the highest level of hierachy, i.e. Sections, to the lowest, i.e. subgroups.
Revision Information
Chronology of revisions/versions of the classification:
Year Adopted:
Title or Version Number:
Website:
-
Revision Concordence List (RCL)
-
International Patent Classification (IPC) - File Index (FI) More detailed Japanese version of IPC
Official Adopting Entity:
The IPC Committee of Experts and Revision Working Group of the IPC Union
Coordinating Entity:
IPC Committee of Experts
Next Review:
2017
Documenting Website:
Reason for Latest Revision:
Rapid technology development and the IPC is not sufficient for an effective search in certain areas.
Major Changes:
See the compilation tab of the official web publication of the IPC
Corrections:
See the compilation tab of the official web publication of the IPC
Supporting Documents
Coding Index Available:
Yes
Index Website:
Available Formats:
PDF, HTML, Text, XML
Training Materials and Other Documents:
N/A
Training Website:
Contact Information
Agency / Office:
World Intellectual Property Organization
Email:
Website:
Address:
World Intellectual Property Organization
34, chemin des Colombettes
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
Comments
The English and French versions are authentic. Translations of the IPC are also prepared and published in other languages.