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Will the classes in IPC8 be very different from the classes in earlier IPC editions (1 to 7)?

WIPO will publish the text of the reformed IPC edition 8 ("IPC 2006") in June 2005.
When the new IPC enters into force on 1 January 2006, it will include not only the features of the IPC reform, but also - as with every new edition of the IPC - numerous changes to the classification scheme itself. These changes will be published on the WIPO website during June/July 2005 (see http://classifications.wipo.int). The core level, which is subject to a three-year update cycle, will appear in paper form. With its three-month update cycle, the advanced level will be published on the WIPO website in electronic form only.

IPC8 will also include a number of new technology sectors mentioned specifically in the IPC for the first time, the most important of these being "Business methods", "Combinatorial chemistry" and "Traditional medicine".

Business methods

In recent versions of the IPC (IPC6 and IPC7), "business methods" have been classified in G06F17/60 "Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions - Administrative, commercial, managerial, supervisory or forecasting purposes". However, a dramatic increase in the number of patent applications in this field has made classification and searching problematic. Moreover, a new kind of patent application has started to appear which contains subject matter relating to commercial applications, but not necessarily falling within the boundaries of G06F ("Electric digital data processing").

In view of the economic relevance of this subject matter as a whole, and the consequent high rate of related research and development, the IPC Revision working group decided to create a totally new subclass: G06Q*.

G06Q will initially be divided into six main groups, four of which will cover the following general applications: administration, (electronic) payments, (electronic) commerce, and finance. One main group (50/00) is to be used when a specific business sector or application is relevant to the invention, and another (90/00) will cover systems or methods that do not involve significant data processing.

Combinatorial chemistry

Within a time span of just a few years, combinatorial chemistry has revolutionised the way scientists think of chemical synthesis and drug discovery. It is now used worldwide by all major chemical and pharmaceutical companies and is increasingly applied in neighbouring fields such as inorganic chemistry, catalysts and materials discovery. This technique consists in the (rapid) preparation of (large) sets of diverse chemical entities (chemical libraries) by the combination of sets of chemical building blocks, eg reagents. It involves a series of different technical areas widely spread throughout the current version of the IPC, such as drug screening (G01N), chemical synthesis (eg C07, C01), apparatus (B01J) or computer software (G06F), but none of those IPC entries actually cover the combinatorial side of the technology. Furthermore, there is no entry for the sets of compounds (ie the libraries) per se. Combinatorial chemistry thus clearly deserves a place in the new IPC.

A new scheme (C40B) has been agreed upon by the Trilateral Offices, as well as by the IPC community as a whole. This new scheme has been developed within the context of the IPC reform: it follows the first place priority rule (FPPR) and the principle of multi-aspect classification. When appropriate, methods, apparatus and library members classified in this scheme for their combinatorial character are also classified elsewhere in the IPC for their intrinsic features.

Traditional medicine

Following expressions of concern by many countries about the protection of their traditional knowledge, folklore and genetic resources, WIPO decided to create an Intergovernmental Committee to analyse the issue.

In the field of traditional medicine, medicinal preparations that contain plant extracts are particularly important, so a proposal was prepared, based on a document presented by India, for the revision of the IPC in the field of medicinal compositions containing plant extracts. As a result, a new main group (A61K36/00) covering pharmaceutical compositions containing plant, fungi or yeast extracts will be created, replacing the existing subgroups A61K35/70, A61K35/72 and A61K35/78 to 35/84.

The new scheme, containing a little more than 200 subgroups, is based mainly on the most recent and accepted taxonomic nomenclature in the field, with the Latin name of the plant families being used as basis for the new subdivision of the main group, in most cases with the corresponding term in English between brackets (eg "A61K36/25 ... Araliaceae (Ginseng family)"). For the most important families, a further breakdown will exist using the Latin name of the genus (eg "A61K36/481 .... Astragalus (milkvetch)").

* Note:
The fact that a new subclass (eg G06Q) has been adopted by WIPO, and therefore also by all patent offices that are members of WIPO, does not have any implication or consequence on their respective patent laws or practices. Readers should note that for a relatively small portion of the subject matter falling within the scope of G06Q, national (regional) patent laws are not (yet) harmonised. An example of subject matter not universally recognised as patentable, but falling within the scope of G06Q, relates to broadly described business or financial schemes in which no substantial technical feature is disclosed.