Classification Search IPC International Patent Classification ECLA European

Classification Search IPC: International Patent Classification ECLA: European Classification Geert Boedt & Lisa Mc. Donald OPUS Online Products and User support Swider, November 2008

IPC and ECLA Classification: WHAT, WHY, WHERE, WHEN, WHO ? • • • IPC International Patent Classification ECLA European Classification of patent documents IPC and ECLA Classification of non patent literature ECLA Search tool for retrieval of (patent) documents (prior art, watch, . . . ) Specialised search strategies in large amounts of subject related documents Publication of the application (IPC, INID code 51) Publication of the patent specification (IPC, INID code 51) Esp@cenet: ECLA and IPC Non Patent Literature XP documents (ECLA) Assigned by "Publishing Office" or "Search Authority" EPO examiners

IPC versus ECLA • IPC International Patent Classification – International (EPO, WIPO, JP, US, . . ) – Maintained by WIPO – 71000 subdivisions (wide) – 3 monthly revision advanced – 3 yearly revision core very stable – New IPC code only after all documents have been reclassified – 37 million documents • ECLA European Classification System – Extension of IPC – EPO, BE, NL, DE, PCT min. documentation, family members, – 134000 subdivisions (more detailed, more precise) – Continuously revised, new ECLA code before reclassification – 30 millions documents

IPC 8 on esp@cenet • IPC 8 is a two-version or two-level system, offering a basic version - "core level" used by "smaller offices" and a full version - "advanced level" used by USPTO, JPO, EPO, . . . The advanced level is more detailed than the core level Core level Advanced level = approximately 18, 000 symbols (wide search) = approximately 70, 000 symbols (narrow search)

IPC 8 Structure IP C SECTION : H CLASS : H 01 SUBCLASS : H 01 F MAIN GROUP : H 01 H 1/00 ONE-DOT SUBGROUP : H 01 H 1/01 TWO-DOT SUBGROUP : H 01 F 1/03 THREE-DOT SUBGROUP : H 01 F 1/032 C O R E A D V A N C E D

ECLA Structure Tagging of NEW technology : Y E C L A & I P C ECLA SECTION : H CLASS : H 01 SUBCLASS : H 01 F MAIN GROUP : H 01 H 1/00 ONE-DOT SUBGROUP : H 01 H 1/01 TWO-DOT SUBGROUP : H 01 F 1/03

IPC 8 on esp@cenet In addition to the core level and the advanced level IPC 8 also distinguishes between invention information and additional, non-invention information Both invention information and additional information can be classified according to IPC 8 core level or advanced level Invention: novel technical information disclosed in the patent Additional: non trivial state of the art useful for the searcher

IPC 8 Search combinations The following combinations are currently possible: core level, invention information core level, additional information advanced level, invention information advanced level, additional information

IPC 8 Search in esp@cenet IPC search term modifiers. c: IPC core level -default- a: IPC advanced level ci: IPC core level (invention information) cn: IPC core level (additional information) ai: IPC advanced level (invention information) an: IPC advanced level (additional information)

IPC 8 displayed on bibliographic data in esp@cenet Advanced IPC symbols: italic Core IPC symbols: non-italic Invention related symbols: bold Additions (non-invention related) symbols: non-bold

IPC 8 on esp@cenet Advanced IPC symbols: italic Core IPC symbols: non-italic Invention related symbols: bold Additions (non-invention related) symbols: non-bold Core Level Advanced Level Inventive information e. g. A 61 L 2/02 Additional information e. g. A 61 L 2/02 Important: it is still possible to search IPC as before, without using search modifiers

Classifications: the links ECLA search in esp@cenet: http: //v 3. espacenet. com/eclasrch? CY=ep&LG=en ECLA help files in esp@cenet: http: //ep. espacenet. com/help? topic=ecla&method=handle. Help. Topic&locale=en _ep Folder: http: //www. epo. org/about-us/publications/user-guides/searching. html IPC guide: http: //www. wipo. int/classifications/ipc 8/guide/en/guide. pdf IPC on WWW. EPO. ORG: http: //www. epo. org/patents/patent-information/ipcreform. html IPC on esp@cenet: http: //ep. espacenet. com/help? topic=ipc&method=handle. Help. Topic&locale=en_ ep

Classifications: the links Thank you Questions ? infowien@epo. org espacenet@epo. org