International Patent Classification IPC: Detailed Rules | iGuide

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International Patent Classification (IPC) Regulations

The International Patent Classification (IPC) is a standard classification system used to organize patents by technical field. Understanding the IPC regulations will not only help you protect your intellectual property rights effectively, but also facilitate patent searches and management. This article will provide detailed information about the regulations and methods of the International Patent Classification, helping you better understand this system.

1. International Patent Classification (IPC)

The Agreement on the International Patent Classification was signed on March 24, 1971 at the Diplomatic Conference of Member States of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property held in Strasbourg (France).

The International Patent Classification is a tool for classifying inventions and utility solutions in a uniform manner worldwide, and is an effective search tool, helping to quickly find appropriate patent descriptions to assess the novelty and inventiveness of a technical solution, as well as to determine the technical status of a specific problem. Currently, most countries in the world have used the International Patent Classification, although some countries still use the national patent classification but still record the corresponding international patent classification index on their patent documents. Thanks to that, searching for patent documents of countries has become much simpler, easier and more convenient than before when each country used its own national patent classification.

The International Patent Classification is regularly revised by an IPC Expert Committee and therefore a new version of the International Patent Classification comes into force on 1 January each year.

2. INTERNATIONAL PATENT CLASSIFICATION UNDER THE STRASBUORG AGREEMENT, version 2024.01 effective from January 1, 2024

PART A: NEEDS OF HUMAN LIFE
PART B: TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESSES; TRANSPORTATION (B01-B43)
PART B: TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESSES; TRANSPORTATION (B44-B99)
PART C: CHEMISTRY; METALLURGICS (C01-C07)
PART C: CHEMISTRY; METALLURGICS (C08-C99)
SECTION D: TEXTILES; PAPER
PART E: CONSTRUCTION; MINES
PART F: PART F: MECHANICS; LIGHTING; HEAT SUPPLY; WEAPONS; EXPLOSION TECHNIQUES
SECTION G: PHYSICS
SECTION H: ELECTRICITY