Patent classification

Searches based on patent classifications can identify documents of different languages by using the codes (classes) of the system, rather than words.

The United States Patent Classification (USPC) is fixed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

An enterprise fixed the Derwent classification system.

In October 2010, the European Patent Office (EPO) and USPTO launched a joint project to create the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) to harmonise the patent classifications systems between the two offices.

From 2013, CPC replaced the European Classification (ECLA), which was based on the IPC but adapted by the EPO.