Access to patent information and the role of classification

1. Access to patent information and the role of classification Mikhail Makarov World Intellectual Property Organization IPC Forum 2006 Geneva

2. Aspects of Patent Information • Legal - rights for invention • Economic - assessing economic dynamics • Technological - technology transfer

3. Advantages of Patent Information • Uniform structure • Most recent information • Not published in other form of literature • Industry-oriented information • Problem-solving approach • Over 50 million documents • Can be freely used to support research

4. Uniform Structure of Patent Documentation • Presentation and data elements follow WIPO standards • Abstract - concise summary of technical disclosure • Description - background and details of invention • Claims - new technical solution

5. Dissemination of Patent Information • Industrial Property Offices • Patent Information Centres (over 300 in Europe) • Commercial vendors • Medium: - paper - optical discs - Internet

6. Use of Patent Information • To avoid redundant research • To evaluate specific technology • To identify new technical solutions • To identify state of the art • To assess novelty and patentability of potential inventions • To monitor technological progress • To monitor competitor’s activities • To identify existing IP rights

7. Unique Applications of Patent Classification • Use of patent information for: - investigating the state of the art - preparation of patent statistics - organization of search files - selective dissemination of information

8. Brief History of Patent Classifications • Alphabetical Lists of Patents (France, 1771) • Classification Systems: - US Classification (1872) - German Classification (1877) - British Classification (1880) - Proposal for an international classification (1904) - European Classification - 1st edition of the IPC (1968)

9. Brief History of the IPC • 1971 - Strasbourg Agreement • 1974 - 2nd edition of the IPC • 2000 - 7th edition of the IPC • 2006 - 8th edition of the IPC (reformed IPC)

10. IPC Growth(classification groups)

11. IPC Growth for Some Rapidly Expanding Technologies

12. National Versions of the IPC • Chinese • Croatian • Czech • Dutch • German • Hungarian • Japanese • Korean • Polish • Russian • Serbian • Spanish

13. Other Existing Patent Classifications • UK Patent Classification - 40,000 groups • DECLA (German Office) - 100,000 groups • ECLA (EPO) - 130,000 groups • US Patent Classification - 150,000 groups • Japan Patent Classification - 190,000 groups

14. Different Kinds of Search with the Use of the IPC • Novelty Search • Patentability or Validity Search • Infringement Search • Informative Search (state of the art search) • Legal Status Search

15. Searching of Patent Information • Text searching: - Databases containing abstracts - Full-text databases • Classification-based searching: - IPC - Other classifications

16. Text Searching • Advantages: - Easiness to use - all invention details may be retrieved • Disadvantages: - Problem of synonyms - Various languages - Inconsistent terminology

17. Classification-based searching • Advantages: - Gives more complete results than text searching - Independent of the language of the text - Independent of the changes in terminology • Disadvantages: - Complex structure of classifications - Requires study of classification rules

18. Searching of patent information • Classification adds information value to patent documents • Combination of classification-based and text searching gives best results

19. Identify IPC for Search Similar documents Catchword index SUBJECT OF SEARCH IPC:CLASS IPC Section Class Subclass Main Group One-dot Group

20. Three-Step Retrieval Strategy