Cooperative Patent Classification

[2] Each classification term consists of a symbol such as "A01B33/00" (which represents "tilling implements with rotary driven tools").

This is followed by a two-digit number to give a "class symbol" ("A01" represents "Agriculture; forestry; animal husbandry; trapping; fishing").

The patent offices of several EPO member states also use CPC, for example those of Austria, Finland, Greece, the United Kingdom, Spain (OEPM), and Sweden (PRV) and some other offices are negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) like Chile (INAPI), Canada (CIPO), Australia and Israel.

[6] On 4 June 2013, the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) agreed with the EPO that as of January 2014, SIPO would classify newly published patent applications in certain technical fields into the CPC.

[8][9] The project has been said to mark a major step towards KIPO classifying all of its patent collection using the CPC.

[9] On 26 September 2013, the EPO and the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) agreed that as of January 2016, Rospatent will[needs update] classify patent documents currently being processed into the CPC, and begin to classify previously published patent documents in 2017.