IPC Reform – User‘s view

PDG IMPACT, Kallas, Frers/ 20060213

1 WIPO_IPC_8_User view.ppt

PDG IMPACT

IPC Reform – User‘s view

PDG IMPACT Working Group

IPC Forum Open Day, February 13th 2006

Peter KallasGerold Frers



PDG IMPACT

Agenda

► Patent Documentation Group – IMPACT Working Group

► Why is the industry looking forward to the “new” IPC

► Obstacles in the way of a painless adoption of the new scheme by the industry

► Some examples

► Conclusions



PDG IMPACT

Patent Documentation Group – IMPACT Working Group

► The IMPACT Working Group is responsible for monitoring, discussing and starting activities that focus on the consequences, benefits, practices and problems of the IPC Reform from the users’ point of view

Participants in WIPO Meetings (with PatCom, IPC Expert Meetings)

Participants in EPO meetings (SACEPO/PDI, EPIC etc.)

Participants in meetings with national offices

Organizing own meetings (IMPACT Workshops with WIPO, EPO, national offices,

commercial providers, attorneys and, of course, users)

Coordinating meetings with all parties involved (Special Discussion Meeting IPC Reform/

EPIC)



PDG IMPACT

IPC – Why is it useful for industry?

► The IPC is a handy tool for patent and information departments and, to a certain extent, for the scientists and engineers:

eases the retrieval of “Prior Art” from patent databases

finds specific documents in combination for instance with keywords, inventor names …

narrows down queries, assisted by keywords or other classification schemes

clusters patents by technology fields

can be used as a means in statistical analysis to discover general technology trends identify competitors evaluate the technology focus of competitors

=> All this is done on the basis of a classification by official institutions by trained and well-experienced examiners.



PDG IMPACT

IPC 8 – Why is the industry looking forward to the “new” IPC

General aspects

Smooth transition from previous revisions to IPC 8

Consolidation of all earlier IPC revisions, also for older documents

Internationally applicable quality standards for participating patent offices

The Core Level Classification is a stable foundation for a longer time scale

Up-to-date coverage of new technologies in the Advanced Level classes

International reach with the prospect of actual global usage and

combination of at least 4 international classification schemes



PDG IMPACT

IPC – Why is the industry looking forward to the “new” IPC

The new philosophy of classification

The Advanced Level Classification scheme is a highly specific and flexible information source

The new philosophy allows discrimination between inventive and non-inventive information

The scope of the IPC in future should comprise the whole content of the document not only the claims



PDG IMPACT

IPC 8 – General Remarks

The IPC reform has a far reaching effect on the landscape of patent information

Many – nearly all – information products are affected

Problems in the raw data cause major problems in the whole information chain: from offices to providers and to the end users

Communication of the underlying principles and newly established procedures is the key to success

A close cooperation between WIPO, EPO, national offices, commercial providers and users is of paramount importance

All parties involved have understood these principles!



PDG IMPACTPDG/ IMPACT

PDG/ IMPACT, Kallas, Frers/ 20050213

WIPO_IPC_8_User view.ppt

IPC 8 – Obstacles in the way of a painless adoption of the new scheme by the industry

Several information products were delayed or not operational

Communication of the procedure in the offices is often neglected or its value

underestimated

Non-standardized procedures lead to irritation of users

Commercial providers and users have to spend additional time and money to

run their search operations

Several tools that have been implemented need optimization – from the user´s point of view



PDG IMPACT


Consequences of the IPC Reform for larger offices like USPTO and JPO not clear: how will concordances or similar practices work?



PDG IMPACT



Inadequate information on the actual implementation of the IPC 8 standard

by the patent offices (Adv. / Core typesetting, advanced “offices” vs. advanced “classes”)



PDG IMPACT

Sample – Advanced Office / Core Symbol



PDG IMPACT

Sample – Switch for Core / Advanced



PDG IMPACT

Sample – Switch for Core / Advanced



PDG IMPACT



Inadequate information on the actual implementation of the IPC 8 standard by the patent offices (Adv. / Core typesetting, advanced “offices” vs. advanced “classes”)

RCL (Revision Concordance List) difficult to follow



PDG IMPACT

Sample – Revision Concordance List

?



PDG IMPACT



Inadequate information on the actual implementation of the IPC 8 standard by the Patent Offices (Adv. / Core typesetting, advanced “offices” vs. advanced “classes”)


Unclear application by some of the offices



PDG IMPACT

Sample – Transferred Classes Jan ´06



PDG IMPACT

Sample – Revision 7 Symbols Jan ´06



PDG IMPACT

Sample – Reclassification / Addition?

What happens with German Utility Models?



PDG IMPACT

Sample – transparent procedures needed!



PDG IMPACT





Status of Master Classification Database not yet clarified: availability, implementation, history




PDG IMPACT





Status of Master Classification Database not yet clarified: availability, implementation, history

The “IPC missing” problem: IPC has to be reliably allotted in high quality without any gaps => without IPC classes, reform is a waste of time!




PDG IMPACT

The focus of industry is now on the problems rather than the advantages!

The offices and WIPO should communicate all problems and changes in the procedures immediately: there is a world outside!

Only a streamlined procedure with transparent classification standards will lead to better adoption and recognition of the benefits of the IPC

Reform

Discuss the problems and established or new procedures with all parties involved - WIPO, EPO, offices, providers and users

Provide time schedules for the different implementation steps

Use opportunities such as today!

IPC 8 Conclusions

Documents

IPC Reform – User‘s view