Do you know …

… the significance of bold and italics as applied to classification symbols in Espacenet? 

In Espacenet, you can search using keywords and/or IPC and CPC classification symbols. Using classification symbols ensures that you find relevant documents regardless of the choice or language of your keywords.  

Let’s take an example: EP0622250A1 describes the invention in question as a “writing instrument”. Even though the invention concerns a pen, a search using the keyword “pen” will not retrieve this document.  

Fig. 1: EP0622250A1 

However, you will retrieve this document (among others) using the query cl=B43K5/00/low and pn=EP, where 

• the field identifier "cl" will search for both IPC or CPC classification symbols 
• the classification symbol B43K5/00 represents "Pens with ink reservoirs in holders"  
• the operator "/low" is commonly used to include sublevels in the search.  

In Espacenet, the bibliographic data page displays the IPC and CPC symbols assigned to the document you are looking at. 

Fig. 2: Result list and bibliographic data page with IPC and CPC symbols for the selected document. 

But why do these symbols appear in bold, italics, non-bold or non-italics? What do these formatting differences mean? 

These formatting conventions indicate whether the classification symbol is "invention information" or "additional information". Invention information disclosed in a patent document must be classified by the patent offices, while classification of additional information is optional. The formats also indicate whether patent authorities have classified using the full IPC (the most common classification process) or using the IPC main group or higher level only.  

The formatting used for these different scenarios is as follows: 

You can see how most of these conventions are applied in the patent document below: 

Fig. 3: Formatting conventions in Espacenet for classification symbols 

Please note that the IPC is revised annually, and the CPC is revised three to four times a year. Our patent databases are updated accordingly. 

Keywords: Espacenet, classification, IPC, CPC