New improvements in the European Patent Register
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
CPC symbols and C-Sets are now displayed in the subsections CPC and C-Set (Figure 1) in the Classification section on the About this file page.
The CPC scheme is an extension of the IPC and contains around 260 000 specialised technical categories wherein patent and non-patent documents are classified, by the EPO, the USPTO and 21 further patent authorities worldwide. The CPC includes the same sections as the IPC, plus a Y section for tagging emerging technologies or technologies spanning across several sections of the CPC. A C-Set is a set of CPC symbols which is used to classify a combination of technical features present in the same embodiment, e.g. the generation of a chemical compound and the corresponding production process.
In addition, the CPC classification is now provided in XML as part of the Register ST.36 data download and is updated on the fly.
For more information, including concordance tables, CPC definitions and news, visit the EPO/USPTO bilateral CPC website.
First validation state joins the Federated Register service
The Republic of Moldova has joined the Federated Register service, making it the first validation state to do so. You can now enjoy easy access to reliable and up-to-date bibliographic and legal status information on European patents validated in the Republic of Moldova (Figure 2).
The Federated Register service has now grown to thirty-three participating states.
Hosted on the European Patent Register, the Federated Register allows you to retrieve reliable and up-to-date bibliographic and legal status information for granted European patents once they have entered the national phase in the participating countries and view them all together in a single table.
Read more about the Federated Register, its country integration status and content as provided by each participating national patent office on the Federated Register webpage and the Register's Help page.
Ultimately, it is the goal of the Federated Register to offer access to the legal status of a granted European patent across all the designated states, as well as the extension and validation states. We'll keep you posted as more countries join.
The Global Dossier service has been extended
The Australian Patent Office is the seventh office to join the Global Dossier service, providing single-point access to their dossier content for applications published on or after 1 January 2006 (Figure 3).
For more information on the Global Dossier service visit the Register's Help page.
