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Patents: Classifications, Codes, Etc.

Resources for Patent Information

Classifications, Codes, Glossary

Patent classification is used to classify or organize patents based on their features.  A patent document usually has at least one or more patent classifications assigned to the document. Use the classifications to expand your search. Below are some patent classifications.


Ever wondered what do the codes mean in a patent document?  For example :

Country Codes - Abbreviations used to identify countries

Kind Codes - Used to distinguish different types of patent documents

INID Codes - Refers to the "Internationally agreed Number for the Identification of (bibliographic) Data"
                      (For easy identification of bibliographic information, useful when the document is in a foreign language. For example, the INID code for inventor is "72")


Country Codes

Kind Codes

INID Codes

Below are listing of terms used on the websites or in databases as well as other useful information e.g. patent families.


Glossary

Patent Families