A patent classification is a system for examiners of patent offices or other people to categorize (code) documents, such as published patent applications , according to the technical features of their content. Patent classifications make it feasible to search quickly for documents about earlier disclosures similar to or related to the invention for which a patent is applied, and to track technological trends in patent applications.
4-625: The European Classification ( ECLA ) is a former patent classification system maintained by the European Patent Office (EPO). The ECLA classification system contains 134 000 subdivisions. It was introduced mainly as an extension of the International Patent Classification system in 1970, but sometimes it modifies its titles and rules. ECLA is used in connection with the indexing system ICO, which serves to identify additional information and aspects that are not covered by
8-584: Is agreed upon internationally. The United States Patent Classification (USPC) is fixed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). An enterprise fixed the Derwent classification system . The German Patent Classification (DPK) was fixed by the German Patent Office ( Deutsches Patentamt ). In October 2010, the European Patent Office (EPO) and USPTO launched a joint project to create
12-673: The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) to harmonise the patent classifications systems between the two offices. From 2013, CPC replaced the European Classification (ECLA), which was based on the IPC but adapted by the EPO. The United States Patent and Trademark Office index patents by class and subclasses. After implementing the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC), only the plant and design classification material
16-664: The ECLA schemes. ECLA has been replaced by the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) as of 1 January 2013. This article relating to the law of Europe or of a European country is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Patent classification Searches based on patent classifications can identify documents of different languages by using the codes (classes) of the system, rather than words. Patent classification systems were originally developed for sorting paper documents, but are nowadays used for searching patent databases. The International Patent Classification (IPC)
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