methods, notes and classification Patent applications to the EPO by priority year by international patent classification (IPC) sections and classes (1977-2012) methods, notes and classification

    • International patent classification (IPC)
      • 00 International patent classification (IPC) - total
      • 01 Section A - Human necessities
      • 02 Agriculture; forestry; animal husbandry; hunting; trapping; fishing
      • 03 Baking; equipment for making or processing doughs; doughs for baking
      • 04 Butchering; meat treatment; processing poultry or fish
      • 05 Foods or foodstuffs; their treatment, not covered by other classes
      • 06 Tobacco; cigars; cigarettes; smokers' requisites
      • 07 Wearing apparel
      • 08 Headwear
      • 09 Footwear
      • 0a Haberdashery; jewellery
      • 0b Hand or travelling articles
      • 0c Brushware
      • 0d Furniture; domestic articles or appliances; coffee mills; spice mills; suction cleaners in general
      • 0e Medical or veterinary science; hygiene
      • 0f Life-saving; fire-fighting
      • 0g Sports; games; amusements
      • 0h Section B - Performing operations; transporting
      • 0i Physical or chemical processes or apparatus in general
      • 0j Crushing, pulverising, or disintegrating; preparatory treatment of grain for milling
      • 0k Separation of solid materials using liquids or using pneumatic tables or jigs; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids; separation by high-voltage electric fields
      • 0l Centrifugal apparatus or machines for carrying-out physical or chemical processes
      • 0m Spraying or atomising in general; applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces, in general
      • 0n Generating or transmitting mechanical vibrations in general
      • 0o Separating solids from solids; sorting
      • 0p Cleaning
      • 0q Disposal of solid waste; reclamation of contaminated soil
      • 0r Mechanical metal-working without essentially removing material; punching metal
      • 0s Casting; powder metallurgy
      • 0t Machine tools; metal-working not otherwise provided for
      • 0u Grinding; polishing
      • 0v Hand tools; portable power-driven tools; handles for hand implements; workshop equipment; manipulators
      • 0w Hand cutting tools; cutting; severing
      • 0x Working or preserving wood or similar material; nailing or stapling machines in general
      • 0y Working cement, clay, or stone
      • 0z Working of plastics; working of substances in a plastic state in general
      • 10 Presses
      • 11 Making paper articles; working paper
      • 12 Layered products
      • 13 Printing; lining machines; typewriters; stamps
      • 14 Bookbinding; albums; files; special printed matter
      • 15 Writing or drawing implements; bureau accessories
      • 16 Decorative arts
      • 17 Vehicles in general
      • 18 Railways
      • 19 Land vehicles for travelling otherwise than on rails
      • 1a Ships or other waterborne vessels; related equipment
      • 1b Aircraft; aviation; cosmonautics
      • 1c Conveying; packing; storing; handling thin or filamentary material
      • 1d Hoisting; lifting; hauling
      • 1e Opening or closing bottles, jars or similar containers; liquid handling
      • 1f Saddlery; upholstery
      • 1g Micro-structural technology
      • 1h Nanotechnology
      • 1i Section C - Chemistry; metallurgy
      • 1j Inorganic chemistry
      • 1k Treatment of water, waste water, sewage, or sludge
      • 1l Glass; mineral or slag wool
      • 1m Cements; concrete; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories
      • 1n Fertilisers; manufacture thereof
      • 1o Explosives; matches
      • 1p Organic chemistry
      • 1q Organic macromolecular compounds; their preparation or chemical working-up; compositions based thereon
      • 1r Dyes; paints; polishes; natural resins; adhesives; compositions not otherwise provided for; applications of materials not otherwise provided for
      • 1s Petroleum, gas or coke industries; technical gases containing carbon monoxide; fuels; lubricants; peat
      • 1t Animal or vegetable oils, fats, fatty substances or waxes; fatty acids therefrom; detergents; candles
      • 1u Biochemistry; beer; spirits; wine; vinegar; microbiology; enzymology; mutation or genetic engineering
      • 1v Sugar industry
      • 1w Skins; hides; pelts; leather
      • 1x Metallurgy of iron
      • 1y Metallurgy; ferrous or non-ferrous alloys; treatment of alloys or non-ferrous metals
      • 1z Coating metallic material; coating material with metallic material; chemical surface treatment; diffusion treatment of metallic material; coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering, by ion implantation or by chemical vapour deposition, in general; inhibiting corrosion of metallic material or incrustation in general
      • 20 Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes; apparatus therefor
      • 21 Crystal growth
      • 22 Combinatorial technology
      • 23 Section C Other - Chemistry; metallurgy
      • 24 Section D - Textiles; paper
      • 25 Natural or artificial threads or fibres; spinning
      • 26 Yarns; mechanical finishing of yarns or ropes; warping or beaming
      • 27 Weaving
      • 28 Braiding; lace-making; knitting; trimmings; non-woven fabrics
      • 29 Sewing; embroidering; tufting
      • 2a Treatment of textiles or the like; laundering; flexible materials not otherwise provided for
      • 2b Ropes; cables other than electric
      • 2c Paper-making; production of cellulose
      • 2d Section E - Fixed constructions
      • 2e Construction of roads, railways, or bridges
      • 2f Hydraulic engineering; foundations; soil-shifting
      • 2g Water supply; sewerage
      • 2h Building
      • 2i Locks; keys; window or door fittings; safes
      • 2j Doors, windows, shutters, or roller blinds, in general; ladders
      • 2k Earth or rock drilling; mining
      • 2l Section F - Mechanical engineering; lighting; heating; weapons; blasting
      • 2m Machines or engines in general; engine plants in general; steam engines
      • 2n Combustion engines; hot-gas or combustion-product engine plants
      • 2o Machines or engines for liquids; wind, spring, or weight motors; producing mechanical power or a reactive propulsive thrust, not otherwise provided for
      • 2p Positive-displacement machines for liquids; pumps for liquids or elastic fluids
      • 2q Fluid-pressure actuators; hydraulics or pneumatics in general
      • 2r Engineering elements or units; general measures for producing and maintaining effective functioning of machines or installations; thermal insulation in general
      • 2s Storing or distributing gases or liquids
      • 2t Lighting
      • 2u Steam generation
      • 2v Combustion apparatus; combustion processes
      • 2w Heating; ranges; ventilating
      • 2x Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems; heat pump systems; manufacture or storage of ice; liquefaction or solidification of gases
      • 2y Drying
      • 2z Furnaces; kilns; ovens; retorts
      • 30 Heat exchange in general
      • 31 Weapons
      • 32 Ammunition; blasting
      • 33 Section G - Physics
      • 34 Measuring; testing
      • 35 Optics
      • 36 Photography; cinematography; analogous techniques using waves other than optical waves; electrography; holography
      • 37 Horology
      • 38 Controlling; regulating
      • 39 Computing; calculating; counting
      • 3a Checking-devices
      • 3b Signalling
      • 3c Educating; cryptography; display; advertising; seals
      • 3d Musical instruments; acoustics
      • 3e Information storage
      • 3f Instrument details
      • 3g Nuclear physics; nuclear engineering
      • 3h Section G Other - Physics
      • 3i Section H - Electricity
      • 3j Basic electric elements
      • 3k Generation, conversion, or distribution of electric power
      • 3l Basic electronic circuitry
      • 3m Electric communication technique
      • 3n Electric techniques not otherwise provided for
      • 3o Unknown
    • Unit of measure
      • 0 Number
      • 1 Per million inhabitants
      • 2 Per million of active population
    • Geopolitical entity (reporting)
      • 00 European Union - 27 countries (from 2020)
      • 01 European Union - 28 countries (2013-2020)
      • 02 Euro area - 19 countries (from 2015)
      • 03 Euro area - 18 countries (2014)
      • 04 Belgium
      • 05 Bulgaria
      • 06 Czechia
      • 07 Denmark
      • 08 Germany (until 1990 former territory of the FRG)
      • 09 Estonia
      • 0a Ireland
      • 0b Greece
      • 0c Spain
      • 0d France
      • 0e Croatia
      • 0f Italy
      • 0g Cyprus
      • 0h Latvia
      • 0i Lithuania
      • 0j Luxembourg
      • 0k Hungary
      • 0l Malta
      • 0m Netherlands
      • 0n Austria
      • 0o Poland
      • 0p Portugal
      • 0q Romania
      • 0r Slovenia
      • 0s Slovakia
      • 0t Finland
      • 0u Sweden
      • 0v Iceland
      • 0w Liechtenstein
      • 0x Norway
      • 0y Switzerland
      • 0z United Kingdom
      • 10 North Macedonia
      • 11 Turkey
      • 12 Russia
      • 13 Former Soviet Union (before 1991)/Total components of the former Soviet Union
      • 14 South Africa
      • 15 Canada
      • 16 United States
      • 17 Mexico
      • 18 Brazil
      • 19 China except Hong Kong
      • 1a Hong Kong
      • 1b Japan
      • 1c South Korea
      • 1d Taiwan
      • 1e India
      • 1f Singapore
      • 1g Israel
      • 1h Australia
      • 1i New Zealand
      • 1j All countries of the world