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Patents and Designs

What is Classification?

The primary purpose of a patent classification system is to provide for an effective and efficient means of organizing and retrieving patent documents by technological subject.

Other purposes include:

  • Selective dissemination of patent information
  • State of the art searching
  • Prepartion of IP statistics

Classification vs. Keywords

Searching by classification is superior to keyword searching because it is:

  • Language independent
  • Terminology/jargon independent
  • Applied by experts (patent office staff)
  • Available for (old) patent documents that lack searchable full text
  • Useful for concept searching

Patent Classification Systems

Design Classification Systems