Question in terms of IPC classification on Patstat

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torben
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:59 am

Question in terms of IPC classification on Patstat

Post by torben » Wed Jul 13, 2016 11:57 am

Hello,

I'm using an offline version of Patstat 2015. I wanted to know, if there is a posibility to get some kind of main IPC class of an EP-patent. I know that in Patstat is a table called tls209_appln_ipc with the column ipc_position. I think it exhibits the place of naming for the IPC class in an patent specification.

At the USPTO or in german patent data you can find a main class which the patent is assigned to.


mkracker
Posts: 120
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2013 6:17 am
Location: Vienna

Re: Question in terms of IPC classification on Patstat

Post by mkracker » Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:34 am

Hi Torben,

I suppose by "main IPC class" you mean the "most representative" of the IPC symbols.

Of all the IPCs assigned, there should always be a "first" IPC (IPC_POSITION = 'F'). However, its meaning depends on the office:
  • I know that for German publications (and I think also for USPTO) the "first" IPC really is the "most representative".
  • For EP, however, the "first" does not have a special meaning. AFAIK the first IPC simply is the first IPC in alphabetic order.
Note that some symbols have a blank IPC_POSITION. I suppose this is due to IPC reclassifications, where newly assigned IPCs do not have a value in IPC_POSITION.

Martin
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Martin Kracker / EPO


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