Research Guides: Patents and Designs: Classification Systems

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

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
The CPC is a patent classification system developed by the EPO and USPTO that contains approximately 200,000 subgroups. It is searchable in the EPO's Espacenet system and USPTO patent databases.
International Patent Classification (IPC)
The IPC is a hierarchical classification system consisting of about 70,000 subgroups. It is used by more than 100 patent offices to classify patent documents. IPC codes are searchable in most patent databases.
Canadian Patent Classification (CaPC)
The CaPC was phased out in the early 1990s. However, CaPC codes are searchable in the CIPO's Canadian Patents Database, allowing for the retrieval of patents from 1869 through 1995.
Japanese FI/F-term Classification
The FI/F-term system is used to classify Japanese patents and utility models from 1922 to the present.
U.S. Patent Classification (USPC)
The USPC consists of about 450 classes and 140,000 subclasses, including a class for plant patents (PLT) and 33 design classes (D1-D32, D34, D99). The USPC is being phased out in favour of the CPC.

Design Classification Systems

Locarno Classification (LOC)
The Locarno Classification (LOC) is an international classification system used to classify industrial designs and design patents. The 11th edition (2017) consists of 32 classes, 219 subclasses and an alphabetical list of 5,167 goods.
Canadian Classification Standard for Industrial Designs
The CCSID is based on the Locarno Classification System and has additional subclasses appropriate to Canadian industrial design requirements.
Japanese Classification for Industrial Design
The Japan Patent Office's classification system for industrial design registrations consists of 13 design groups and 81 main classes.
U.S. Patent Classification (USPC)
The USPC consists of about 450 classes and 140,000 subclasses, including a class for plant patents (PLT) and 33 design classes (D1-D32, D34, D99). The USPC is being phased out in favour of the CPC.