IPC Reform impact on Delphion, PatentWeb and Aureka

 

Bob Stembridge
Thomson Scientific

The International Patent Classification system provides a single scheme to organize and access the world’s patent literature. The revision of this system has far-reaching implications for patent information users and providers. In this article, we review the impact of the reformed IPC on searching the Thomson Scientific full-text patent systems: Delphion®, PatentWeb® and Aureka®.

Introduction

The most sweeping change in the history of the International Patent Classification system is upon us, and Thomson Scientific has worked to ensure a smooth transition. The new version of the IPC, referred to either as IPC 8th Edition (IPC 8) or IPC Reform (IPC R), is based on the existing IPC 7th Edition (IPC 7) with many codes from IPC 7 transferring directly into the new version. However, there are also many deletions, modifications and additions to the codes that users need to be aware of. Additionally, two levels of code have been created (Core and Advanced) with codes being applied for new (invention) and additional (non-invention) features of an invention. Full details of the changes are given in the KnowledgeLink April 2005 article Impact of IPC reform on patent information users and providers or at the Esp@ceNet web-site.

This article reviews the impact of IPC Reform on searching Thomson Scientific’s full-text patent systems, Delphion, PatentWeb and Aureka.

Delphion

The following changes to enable searching of the new IPC Reform (IPC R) data were made on Delphion during the first week of January 2006:

  • Alerts & Saved Searches: Alerts will run as normal, and any queries that search in the "IC" field now also search the new IPC R data. However, because significant code changes have been made in IPC R, you should review and adjust your code selections in Alerts and Saved Searches. Full details of the new IPC R codes are available at the WIPO website.
  • Boolean Search Form: The "IPC Code - Any" field will now search both IPC 7 and IPC R data. The "IPC Code - Main" field is now called "IPC Code - Invention/Main" and searches IPC 7 Main and IPC R Invention codes.
  • Advanced Search Form: The "IPC Code" field will now search both IPC 7 and IPC R data, but also includes the option to take advantage of new attributes available in IPC R.
  • Result Set & Delphion Integrated View: These views will now display both IPC 7 and IPC R codes depending on what is available for a specific publication. The Result Set displays the subclass level of the first-listed IPC, while the Delphion Integrated View shows all available codes.

As an example, let us consider the new advanced IPC R code A61F 2/90. The definition from the WIPO web site is as follows:

[See Figure 0]

Since A61F 2/90 is an advanced code, this code will only appear on patent documents issued from those patent authorities using the advanced IPC R. In practice, on Delphion, this means all of the full-text collection.

So, to search for patents relating to stents formed from wire-like elements in a net structure, we can use either the Boolean or Advanced search form to search A61F 2/90. The Advanced search form gives additional flexibility to search for A61F 2/90 as an “Invention” code.

[See Figure 1]

This gives three results:

[See Figure 2]

Viewing the results confirms the presence of A61F 2/90 in the full text record

[See Figure 3]

Incorporation of IPC R into Snapshot and Data Extract will occur shortly.

PatentWeb

The following changes to enable searching of the new IPC Reform (IPC R) data were made on PatSearch FullText and MPI-INPADOC Plus during the first week of January:

  • Alerts: Alerts will run as normal, and any queries that search IPC codes will also search the new IPC R data. However, because significant code changes have been made in IPC R, you should review and adjust your code selections in Alerts and Saved Searches.
  • Search Form: The "US or Int'l Class" field in PatSearch Fulltext has been renamed to "US or Any IPC" and searches both IPC 1-7 (pre-reform) and IPC R data. A new "IPC R - Current" field has been added, and will allow specific searching of current IPC R data. In MPI, the existing IPC field has been relabelled as IPC 1-7 and a new "IPC R - Current" field has been added. When this field is selected, an option to take advantage of new IPC R attributes will also be presented. For saved searches and alerts in MPI, queries that include IPC criteria will need to be edited to run properly.
  • Hitlist and Record View: These views display both IPC 1-7 and IPC R codes depending on which is available for a specific publication. The Hitlist displays the subclass level of the first-listed IPC, while the Record View shows all available codes.
  • Exports, PatGraph and Reports: These features give preference to using Current IPC R data (vs. pre-reform codes) and Advanced codes, when available. If those codes are not present, pre-reform data and Core codes will be used

Using A61F 2/90 as an example again, a search can be conducted in PatSearch FullText

[See Figure 4]

The search again retrieves three results

[See Figure 5]

Viewing results confirms the presence of A61F 2/90 as an Advanced Invention code (note also the presence of the corresponding Core level codes that have automatically been added by Thomson). The particular version of IPC R (in this case 2006.01) is also indicated in the table.

[See Figure 6]

Aureka

Changes to the Aureka service have also been made to accommodate IPC R codes.
Using A61F 2/90 as our example again, a search of Aureka full text collection is conducted.

[See Figure 7]

As before, this retrieves three results:

[See Figure 8]

The full record view also shows related Core codes automatically added by Thomson. The particular version of IPC R (in this case 2006.01) is also indicated

[See Figure 9]

Reports, Exports, and Cite Trees: These features will include IPC R soon, and will give preference to using Current IPC R data (vs. pre-reform codes) and Advanced codes, when available. If those codes are not present, pre-reform data and Core codes will be used.