IPA patent 4.2.1.1-international-patent-classification-ipc — IP Australia Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure – 4.2.1.1 International Patent Classification (IPC)

Also in this Chapter: 4.2.1.2 Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) Sub-chapters: 4.2.1.1.1 Structure of the IPC 4.2.1.1.2 Headings and Titles 4.2.1.1.3 Definitions, Warnings and Notes 4.2.1.1.4 Function-Oriented and Application-Oriented Places 4.2.1.1.5 References 4.2.1.1.6 Indexing Codes Related Chapters: RIO - Classification Tasks RIO - Processing Classification Tasks RIO - Classification Task Workarounds The International Patent Classification (IPC), established by the Strasbourg Agreement 1971, provides for a hierarchical system of language independent symbols for the classification of patents and utility models according to the different areas of technology to which they pertain. The universal use of the IPC permits the searching of multiple jurisdictions/languages (for example, both US and JP documents) in a single query. However, some national collections may not yet allow searching using English keywords or retrieving original documents, for example Italian or Indian patent collections.