USPTO and EPO Launch Patent Classification Website

By Donald Zuhn --

Yesterday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and European Patent Office announced the launch of a new website regarding the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) initiative.  The CPC project seeks to combine the best classification practices of both the U.S. and European systems with the aim of developing a joint IPC based classification system to be used for the search and examination of U.S. and EP patent applications.  The website was created to serve as an informative resource on the progress of the CPC project for USPTO and EPO staff, as well as other patent offices worldwide and the user community.  The EPO press release regarding the website launch can be found here.

For additional information regarding this topic, please see:

• "USPTO and EPO Agree to Principles of Joint Patent Classification System," February 14, 2011
• "USPTO and EPO to Develop Joint Patent Classification System," October 25, 2010

Comments

[Brad Chassee]

Thanks again for another very interesting article! Standardizing classification practices would be very helpful. We just got down building a patent classification tree into our free patent search which many have found very helpful. We have an appreciation for the current problems with the classification system based on what was involved with building this tool. Feel free to check out the classification tree at www.archpatent.com