WHAT IS IPC?
IPC stands for International Patent Classification. It is a hierarchical classification system used to classify and search patent documents (patent applications, specifications of granted patents, utility models, etc.). The classification scheme contains 70,000 entries. – There are 8 sections in IPC. For example, Section C is dealing with Chemistry and Metallurgy. – Sections are subdivided to 120 classes in edition 7. Class C21, for example, is dealing with the “Metallurgy of iron”. – Classes are subdivided into more than 600 subclasses. Subclass A21B, for example, deals with “Bakers’ ovens; machines or equipment for baking.” – Subclasses are divided to maingroups and subgroups. – Main groups always end with “/00”, e.g., maingroup A21C 5/00 deals with “Dough-dividing machines”. – The hierarchy of the subgroups under maingroups is designated by dots preceding the titles of the entries. Edition 7 has a little less than 70,000 groups. 10 percent of the groups are main groups.
