Chapter II – Organisation of the European Patent Office
Rule 8
Patent classification
A revised version of the European Patent Convention entered into force on 13 December 2007. The provisions of the revised Convention apply unless the transitional provisions provide for the applicability of the EPC 1973. |
(1) The European Patent Office shall use:
(a) the classification referred to in Article 1 of the European Convention on the International Classification of Patents for Invention of 19 December 1954 until the entry into force of the Strasbourg Agreement concerning the International Patent Classification of 24 March 1971;
(b) the classification referred to in Article 1 of the aforementioned Strasbourg Agreement, after the entry into force of that Agreement.
(2) The classification referred to in paragraph 1 is hereinafter referred to as the international classification.