Search options available in STN databases - FIZ Karlsruhe

Types of search
18.3 Searching the International Patent Classification (IPC)
The International Patent Classification (IPC) is a hierarchical system with this structure:
A Section SECTION A HUMAN NECESSITIES
A47 Class Furniture; Domestic Articles or Appliances; Coffee Mills; Spice Mills; Suction Cleaners in
General
A47L Subclass Domestic Washing or Cleaning; Suction Cleaners in General
A47L 13 Group Implements for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
A47L 13/00 Main Group Implements for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
A47L 13/02 Subgroup . Scraping
A47L 13/10 Subgroup . Scrubbing; Scouring; Cleaning; Polishing
A47L 13/20 Subgroup . . Mops
A47L 13/22 Subgroup . . . with liquid-feeding devices
A47L 13/23 Subgroup . . . . connectible to the water mains
The IPC is published by the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation). Edition 8 has been valid since 1 January
2006. This edition was extended considerably compared to edition 7 (e.g. structure, classification rules, revisions,
database updates). The IPC is revised every 12 months. The year of revision is always given. The IPC will be refined
with each revision and may have about 130,000 entries in a few years. Some of the patent offices use the
classification only at main group or subclass level.
Note: From 2006 to 2010 the IPC was divided into a Core and an Advanced Level, which can still be seen on
publications and sometimes in databases. In 2011 this distinction was dropped. In the text below there may still be
references to these levels. They can only be removed once the databases have been adapted.
The IPC with its full hierarchy is only available on the Internet:
http://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/ipc8/
https://depatisnet.dpma.de/ipc/init.do
The Internet version includes additional information: additional definitions, chemical structures, illustrations,,
references.
A revision of the IPC is announced by WIPO six months in advance.
WIPO offers a number of aids for searching on:
http://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/en/
With revision 8, the classification concept was changed:
Old concept: Patent publications are assigned a main IPC code which identifies the invention in its key aspect as
appropriate, further secondary IPC codes are assigned which refer to further aspects of the invention. Therefore, in
patent databases a distinction is made between the Main IPC (ICM field) and the Secondary IPC (ICS field). The
combined ICM and ICS fields can be searched and displayed together in the IC field. Some patent offices assign
Additional IPCs (ICA field) and Index IPCs (ICI field) which provide further information on the contents of the
publication. On the printed publication these IPC codes are separated from the Main and Secondary IPC codes by a
double forward slash, //. Documents already available in the patent databases are usually not reclassified.
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