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This video will show you how to locate patent classification information.
On the US Patent and Trademark Office Patent Full-Text Databases page select the link to
searching by class. This will bring you to the main classification
search page on the USPTO website. If you do not have a classification code to
lookup, start by browsing using the CPC Sections link.
Begin by clicking on a section such as A Human Necessities
Under the section are listed classes in a collapsable hierarcy such as A01 Agriculture
Select a subclass from the list such as Planting and click A01C
Now you will see the group and subgroups list, also known as the classification scheme
Main subgroups may have one or more subgroups specifically divided beneath them
Dots next to each of these subgroups represent the level of division
For example, under 1/00 Apparatus there is 1/02 Germinating apparatus
A more detailed subgroup for Testing seeds is 1/025
Patents with this classification have all the features of each division
So for our example patents in A01C 1/025 would test seeds for germination in an apparatus
for planting Note that related classifications are listed
such as C12C 1/027 for germinating malt Major classifications will have a link to
their classification definition page, which contains more detailed specifications for
the classification and related areas Going back to the Classification Search page,
you can access both the scheme and definition directly if you know the classification code.