Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.
The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.
In 2005, procedures for the filing of Russian Federation (RF) patent applications for inventions and methods of examination remained unchanged.
Inventions
Table 1 shows the data for 2004-2005 for the filing of RF patent applications for inventions by national and foreign applicants.
The largest number of applications for inventions by Russian applicants was filed under Section A of the International Patent Classification (IPC) — Human Necessities, and by foreign applicants under Section C — Chemistry and Metallurgy.
The least popular among both Russian and foreign applicants was Section D — Textiles and Paper. The number of applications filed under this Section in 2005 constituted 1.09 per cent of the overall number of applications filed for inventions.
Utility Models
Growth should also be noted in the overall number of applications filed for utility models in 2005 (see Table 2). The number of applications filed by foreign applicants also increased.
The largest number of patents granted for utility models in the past year was for Section B — Performing Operations and Transporting, and Section A — Human Necessities. The lowest number of applications was again filed for Section D — Textiles and Paper, which was the least numerous in terms of utility model patents granted, and also for Section C — Chemistry and Metallurgy.
In the course of 2005, Rospatent issued 49,683 invention announcements including 23,390 patent claims; 26,295 claims for invention applications; 2,935 claims for previously unpublished inventions; and 7,243 utility model claims.
In 2005, the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette began to be issued on CD-ROM, 36 times per year. The Official Gazette is published both on the Internet and also (only by order) in a hard copy.
In 2005, the following patent information publications were issued:
Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette – on CD-ROM (with full specifications of inventions) - 36 issues;
Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette – on CD-ROM (with bibliographical data) - 36 issues;
Retrospective sets of invention specifications for USSR authors’ certificates and RF patents, 1924-2004, on DVD – 96 disks;
An information search system for invention specifications in Russian and English on DVD – quarterly and cumulative;
Title pages of utility model descriptions for RF documents providing protection, 1994-2004, on DVD – one disk;
Invention specifications for patents (hard copy, Internet search system, in Open Registers) – 23,390 specifications;
Title pages of utility model descriptions, hard copy – 7,243 sheets;
Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette, hard copy – 36 issues;
Annual index to Inventions and Utility Models Gazette (five volumes).
Table 3 shows the number of orders in 2005 for annual sets of official publications with current acquisitions and retrospective collections.
Data on inventions and utility models are systematized and thoroughly checked in technical databases.
Most of the information received and issued is stored on optical disks. Paper information carriers are also used to store data. Archive information which is not part of the PCT minimum documentation is also stored on microforms.
Higher capacity DVD-ROM carriers have become more widely used.
In 2005, an automated subsystem (ASS) was introduced to produce electronic copies of applications for inventions and utility models (bibliographical data, claims, invention specification, abstract, drawings) and for the use of these data from the electronic archive in the preparation of all kinds of decisions and letters, during the conduct of an examination with subsequent preparation and transfer of data for publication in XML format.
As part of the comprehensive program to modernize the automated systems of Rospatent, in 2005 the following work was done:
a single automated system for processing by agreement (“Agreements” Automated System) was produced for all intellectual property subject matter;
the automated system “electronic publications of official Rospatent editions for industrial property subject matter” was introduced, assuring the transition to the paperless official publication of data on inventions and utility models, on CD-ROM and the Internet;
the creation of open registers of Russian patent documents for all types of industrial property was completed;
a modern automated library system (ALS) was prepared for introduction, which in the future will facilitate the transition to electronic resources and the provision of online access for readers to data from an electronic catalog of national and foreign patent literature collections;
software support for the new extended Eighth Edition of the International Patent Classification (IPC) was introduced into all Rospatent’s automated systems connected with inventions, including the publication system.
The automated system for preparing publications facilitates fully automatic production of mock-ups of formatted editions, by using computer technology with fast, high-definition scanning and printing peripherals.
The following technical equipment, which allows ready printed items to be produced in the form of printed editions and facsimile (photo) copies, is used for printing and production (reproduction) preparation purposes in relation to secondary patent information sources:
- equipment for printing processes;
- equipment for producing (printing) patent information in facsimile form;
- equipment for microfilming and printing of microfilms (microfiches).
In 2005, abstracts continued to be published for RF patents and utility models granted:
in Russian, as part of full texts of patent documents on paper;
in Russian, on CD-ROM with bibliographical information;
in Russian and English, on CD-ROMs containing full descriptions of patents and utility models.
Abstract-related information for Rospatent patent documents is also available on the Internet:
- RUABRU - a free abstract database for inventions in Russian, containing, as at January 1, 2006, information on 542,000 patent applications and patents for inventions from 1994 to 2005 inclusive;
RUABEN - a free abstract database for inventions in English, containing, as at January 1, 2006, information on 299,000 patents for inventions from 1994 to 2005 inclusive;
The abstracts database is updated monthly.
In 2005, the Information and Publications Center of Rospatent continued to issue the Russian edition of Inventions of Countries of the World containing abstracts for inventions from WIPO, European Patent Office (EPO), France, Germany, Japan, Russian Federation, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America published in 2004 in the official gazettes of offices.
In accordance with the results of the reform of the IPC, conducted within WIPO in 2005, work was completed on transferring the Classification to an electronic platform.
The IPC, divided into two levels as a result of the reform – advanced and core –, was published in Russian in two alternative versions: on paper and on CD-ROM. The electronic version of both levels of the IPC on CD-ROM was equipped with a search system produced by specialists from the Federal State Institution (FGU) Federal Institute of Industrial Property (FIPS).
The advanced level of the IPC in Russian, approved for use by Rospatent in the electronic format devised, was made available for use in several alternative versions: for examiners – on the Rospatent Intranet site, and for all users – on the Rospatent Internet site.
Data on the national patent documents reclassified in accordance with the new version of the IPC were entered into a specially created reclassification database.
Information on national patent documents, reclassified in accordance with the new version of the IPC, was prepared for entry into the “Master Classification” international classification database.
In 2005, the Seventh Edition of the IPC was used for the publication of patent documents.
Rospatent participated in the preparation of the reformed IPC-2006, as part of the IPC Reform Working Group and the Committee of Experts of the IPC Special Union.
In 2005, the following were prepared and sent to WIPO:
- comments and proposals for projects in accordance with IPC definitions D043 (G01P), D046 (G02C), D061 (C11D), D072 (G07F) and D118 (H01B); a draft of D048 (H04B) was completed, for which Rospatent was the reviewer.
Rospatent prepared the electronic Russian-language version of the reformed IPC, in accordance with the changes approved by the 36th Session of the Committee of Experts.
A study was undertaken by experts into use of the new version of IPC-8 in 2006. A translation was prepared of the training examples for study of the IPC classification, as approved at the 13th and 14th sessions of the IPC Reform Working Group.
In 2005, FIPS experts provided full hybrid system indexes for national patent documents on all publications (abstracts, descriptions for applications and patents, as well as utility model certificates).
Recommendations for the automated reclassification of national descriptions with indexes for the hybrid systems were prepared using the reformed IPC.
Application data are entered on a machine-readable carrier. These data are subsequently used for various purposes, including in the in-house search system. In 2005, work continued to enter full text versions of patents granted and claims for applications for inventions and utility models into the Rospatent database.
All the applications for inventions and utility models received by the Office in 2005 were fully converted into electronic form.
The main parts of the State Patent Collection (GPF) are the Patent Examination Collection (FPE), intended for use by State examiners only, and the Central Patent Collection (TsPF), intended for use by all categories of patent information users (including examiners).
The All-Russian Patent Technology Library (VPTB) of the FGU FIPS is one of the largest centers of patent documentation and information in the world. The VPTB FGU FIPS’s activities are coordinated and financed from the State budget and extrabudgetary sources.
The main sources supplying the GPF, providing 98 per cent of all the Collection’s acquisitions, are Rospatent official publications and patent documentation received through an international exchange with patent offices of foreign countries and other information centers.
The structure and content of the FPE are defined by their purpose and the problems which the Collection is able to resolve. The content of the FPE is governed by Rule 34 (“minimum documentation”) of the Regulations Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and also by bilateral interoffice agreements and conventions.
In structural terms, the FPE consists of current and retrospective portions of collections of national and foreign patent documentation, a collection of patent-related literature, including scientific and technical literature in the form of books and periodicals, and also a collection of patent-law, standard-setting and method-related, and reference literature. FPE patent documentation is arranged according to IPC groups, within headings by country, within countries by year of publication, and thereafter in numerical order.
FPE national patent documentation includes descriptions of inventions of the USSR (from 1924 onwards), descriptions of RF inventions and utility models (applications, patents and certificates), and the official gazettes of the USSR and Russian Federation. National patent documentation is compiled in separate collections (documentation of the USSR, Russian Federation and the collection of descriptions for RF utility models).
The current portion of the Collection is updated annually both for national and foreign patent documentation. In 2005, 347,400 copies of patent documentation on a paper carrier were received by the FPE, including 298,400 copies of foreign documentation and 49,000 copies of national documentation. The overall volume of FPE patent documents on a paper carrier stood at 18.78 million on June 1, 2006. In addition, 1,429,300 copies of patent documents were received on optical disks, of which 1,402,000 copies of foreign documents and 26,800 copies of national documents.
The storage conditions for the collections are determined largely by the type of information carrier: patent documentation on paper is stored in cases on shelves and on CD-ROM in catalog racks.
The FPE includes collections of foreign patent documentation from the following countries and organizations: Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America, and WIPO, EPO and Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO), as well as patent documentation from CIS countries.
Rospatent uses databases containing national and foreign patent information on CD-ROM optical disks and also databases provided through the Internet.
By the end of 2005, the FGU FIPS had a total of 121 databases in its CD-ROM collection, which were stored on 14,699 disks (CD-ROM and DVD) and contain information from 32 countries and four international organizations.
In 2005, the number of patent databases in which the enhanced version of the software MIMOSA 5.0 is used, increased, including the database of the “Patents of Russia” collection.
In 2005, national utility model searches became more user-friendly. Two alternative electronic forms of the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette database are currently being produced. The publication contains bibliographical data and claims for patents and applications, claims for utility models, notifications in Russian and title pages in Russian and English. In 2005, the disks with patent documentation from CIS countries included full texts of patent documents from Ukraine for 2005 and a database with the Official Gazette of Uzbekistan for 2004. The database “CISPATENT ACCESS” will shortly be produced on DVD-ROM, as a conclusion to the collection of full texts for 2002-2004.
Rospatent’s Internet resources include the following databases:
a full-text database of Russian inventions (300,000 patents for inventions, from 1994 to 2005);
a retrospective database of Russian patent documents in facsimile form (1,433,000 documents from 1924 to 1993);
a database of abstracts for Russian inventions (542,000 applications and patents for inventions from 1994 to 2005);
a database of abstracts for Russian inventions, in English (299,000 patents for inventions from 1994 to 2005);
a database of abstracts for Russian utility models (49,000 Russian certificates and utility model patents from 1996 to 2005);
the “future-oriented inventions” database;
the IPC (sixth and seventh editions) database.
The introduction of the automated text translation system PROMT was concluded in 2005 with the purchase of the Upgrade of the new version of PROMT Professional 7/0 for existing and additionally organized work spaces.
For information searches of applications, FGU FIPS examiners basically use electronic patent documentation resources. In 2005, they had access to more than 200 patent and non-patent databases for online searches. Above all, patent office databases which are freely available and a number of non-patent documentation databases may be searched by experts from their automated work places in their sectoral divisions. In 2005, the Prior Art Database of the company IP.com and the Taiwan patent documentation database TWPAT Patent Network were added to the list of such databases.
The databases freely available on the Internet most widely used by examiners are those of Rospatent, EPO (Esp@cenet), the US Patent Office, the Japan Patent Office, the German Patent Office (Depatisnet), WIPO and the in-house EAPO search system, EAPATIS.
The most frequently used, freely accessible database containing non-patent medical literature is the USA National Library PubMed database.
In addition to the freely accessible databases listed, examiners have access to the following commercial databases for the purposes of application searches:
over 200 databases provided by the STN International network, covering both patent and non-patent literature;
patent databases of the Delphion network. In addition to the databases of patent offices of leading countries of the world, the Derwent World Patent Index database is available for use by FGU FIPS examiners;
Japanese patent documents database in English: PATOLIS-e.
Furthermore, as part of bilateral cooperation with the EPO, Institute examiners have free direct access to part of the EPO EPOQUE in-house search system. In 2005, guidelines for examiners were produced on the use of the new version of this system – the PatNet system.
As part of the work done in the transition to paperless technology, the Electronic Applications Archive was produced, combined with an automated system for processing applications for inventions, utility models and industrial designs (automated database). Problems were resolved with the conversion of parts of applications for inventions and utility models to electronic form, the production of electronic versions of applications, the amendment of parts of applications (claims, description, abstract and drawings), the preparation of outgoing correspondence in electronic form, and the management of examiners’ work plans.
In May 2005, the complex “Agreements” system was brought into operation, providing documents containing agreements relating to the various types of industrial property subject matter, from the time a declaration is filed until an agreement is registered, and introducing amendments into State registers and publishing information in Rospatent official editions.
Work continued to enhance the interfaces of the FIPS automated database containing information on 1,169,760 applications for inventions, utility models and industrial designs, as well as approximately 500,000 documents providing protection.
RM600-E80 Server
(OM – 1GB, processors – 3, external memory – 360 GB)
- Compaq DL380 server – 16 units
(OM – 2 GB, processors – 2, external memory – 200 GB)
- Compaq DL580 server – 5 units
(OM – 8 GB, processors – 4, external memory – 300 GB)
Compaq 586, P MMX, PII, PIII, P4, Fujitsu-Siemens workstations – 940 units.
Switching equipment:
Equipment for ISDN lines
SmartSWITCH 6000; 3Com CoreBuilder 3500; Cisco
Software:
SINIX, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.
Carriers used:
DLTtape IV and SDLT magnetic tapes.
The VPTB forms part of the system of the Federal Service of Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks as a division of FGU FIPS. The VPTB FGU FIPS compiles and manages the Central Patent Collection (CPC), providing access for a wide circle of information users in Russia, and neighboring and other foreign countries (including examiners).
The Library premises are equipped with an alarm system and an automatic fire-fighting system.
In the VPTB, an information search system is in operation.
The CPC includes national (from 1814) and foreign patent documentation, abstracts and bibliographies covering all industrial property subject matter, collections of patent-law, standard-setting and method-related, and reference literature, as well as an information search system for these collections.
As of January 1, 2006, the CPC had almost 80 million copies of patent documents on the various types of carriers, including a collection of foreign patent documentation – about 70 million copies, a collection of national patent documentation – about 5.8 million copies, a collection of industrial design examinations from 19 countries and WIPO – 1.8 million copies, and a collection of patent-law, standard-setting and information-related literature – 73,600 copies of documents.
In 2005, about three million copies of national and foreign patent documents were acquired by the CPC on CD-ROM. In this regard, paper acquisitions almost ceased completely, as a result of which duplication of patent documentation in the collection is excluded.
The main CPC collections on paper are arranged along geographical-systematic-numerical lines.
The conditions for storing the collections are determined primarily by the type of format:
patent documentation on paper is stored in cases on shelves;
on microcarriers – in metal boxes in files-film libraries (microfilm) and in metal cupboards (microfiches);
in automated databases;
on optical disks - in special cabinets.
In 2005, State patent information resources were stored in the collections of the:
Federal Service of Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks;
intersectoral territorial scientific and technical information centers (STICs);
libraries (national libraries of subjects of the Russian Federation, regional universal scientific libraries – RUSLs).
The VPTB Division’s overall readership stands at more than 15,600. In 2005, 2,000 people registered with the Library and in the past year 99,000 readers visited the Library.
About 43.7 million copies of patent documents were issued to users, including more than 13 million copies on paper; 15,900 copies on microcarriers, and more than 30.5 million copies of patent documents on optical disks.
General and specialized reading rooms operate in the VPTB Division for the comfort of readers who wish to work. These rooms provide:
- patent documentation from the countries of the Asia-Pacific region;
- microcarriers;
- industrial designs;
- an information-bibliography service;
- optical disks and remote databases.
Visits to the Library and service for all categories of users are free of charge. In addition to conventional forms of service, in 2005 access for readers to automated databases in the VPTB Division was extended and improved. 193 databases are currently fully installed and in use, including 188 on optical disks.
The VPTB FGU FIPS Division provides both a fixed service for information users and also a service for remote users, employing all forms of communication currently in existence: post, telephone, facsimile and electronic mail. VPTB subscribers include about 900 remote users of patent information.
In order to simplify access to information resources, the VPTB FIPS Division provides patent-information services including a thematic selection of patent documentation, a search by systematic indexes, a search in automated databases, a search for patent-analogs, and others representing more than 30 designated services.
In 2005, the VPTB FGU FIPS Division satisfied around 20,000 information requests from users, including more than 400,000 pages of copies of patent documentation which were produced. A trend towards a reduction in the copying of patent documentation, as a result of the active use of the possibilities offered by the Internet, is observed.
Through the Internet (www.rupto.ru), Rospatent provides databases containing Russian patent information, including descriptions of inventions and abstracts in English. As of 2005, Rospatent publishes an electronic gazette Inventions and Utility Models on the Internet (www.rupto.ru), as well as open registers of Russian inventions and utility models with an indication of their legal status.
On the basis of official information concerning inventions and utility models, special databases are produced in accordance with users’ orders.
The FGU FIPS VPTB Division currently receives an exchange of documentation from 56 countries, six international organizations and the information firm Derwent. The exchange with Italy and the People’s Democratic Republic of China was stopped.
The volumes of acquisitions of foreign descriptions are determined by the scales of activity of national patent offices and international organizations. Leading positions in this area are occupied by Germany, Japan and the United States of America, as well as the EPO and WIPO.
Table 4 shows the rate of international exchange in 2005 between the FGU FIPS VPTB Division and foreign patent offices.
The exchange of patent documentation on various media (paper and optical disks) continued in 2005, as did the active replacement of all other types of information carriers with optical disks:
In 2005, the following were received from patent offices in foreign countries:
4 annual sets of invention specifications on paper;
135 annual sets of invention specifications on optical disks.
The following were sent to patent offices in foreign countries on optical disks:
18 annual sets of the Official Gazette Inventions and Utility Models.
64 annual sets of the Official Gazette Inventions and Utility Models (with full specifications of inventions for RF patents).
In 2005 paper media were used for the filing of applications with Rospatent under the national procedure. For international applications, Rule 92.4 of the Regulations Under the PCT permits the use of telegraph, teleprinter and facsimile, provided that the original paper carrier is furnished within 14 days of the date of transmission. In 2005, work continued on receiving applications on electronic media (as a third copy), 2,319 applications were received, and additional material was received on electronic media (as a third copy) for 2,806 applications.
In the course of 2005, 133 applications were filed using the PCT-SAFE system for the electronic filing of international applications, constituting 19 per cent of the overall number of applications filed.
As part of cooperation with WIPO, 6,420 applications were transmitted using the IMPACT electronic system for document transfer to create files for international applications which had entered the national phase in the Russian Federation.
The information in Section VII (paragraphs 1 to 3) of this report describes this aspect of the Office’s current position.
At the Russian State Institute for Intellectual Property (RGIIS) employees of FGU FIPS undergo vocational retraining, receive first or second university degrees and study on postgraduate courses. At the beginning of 2005, in the vocational retraining program 31 employees of FGU FIPS completed their studies and defended their degrees, and five people graduated from RGIIS, after receiving their first degree. Five employees of FGU FIPS are continuing their studies on the RGIIS postgraduate course.
As part of the TASIS joint project “Assistance to Rospatent in the harmonization of intellectual property legislation and staff training”, a total of 234 FGU FIPS specialists underwent training in 2005.
In 2005, two sessions of the WIPO Worldwide Academy (WA) distance learning program Foundations of Intellectual Property were held in Russia and in other countries in Russian. Six teachers (specialists from Rospatent, FGU FIPS and RGIIS) undertook consultations during the spring session. Following a decision by the WIPO WA, the autumn session was held without teacher support, and an on-line examination was conducted for testing purposes.
A total of 1,306 people registered for training courses in 2005, of which 566 successfully completed such a course and received WIPO WA certificates.
183 specialists received training on patenting and entrepreneurs did so for the programs entitled “the use of databases generally accessible on the Internet for patent search purposes” and “the enforcement of rights in intellectual property subject matter, taking into account the amendments made to the legislation of the Russian Federation. Licensing-agreement relations”. In 2005, 16 specialists from patent offices in Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan underwent training according to individual programs at the FGU FIPS.
In 2005, work with the regions continued in accordance with Rospatent’s Program of Cooperation with the regions on the creation, legal protection and use of the results of scientific and technical activities. Rospatent and FGU FIPS have links with 33 regions of Russia through agreements and conventions.
In accordance with the program of information provision for the regions, in the reporting year free website access was provided for the first time to full-text databases containing descriptions of national inventions and utility models for the Mordovia Central Science and Technology Institute (CSTI), the Izhevsk CSTI and the Kirov CSTI. Free website access to full-text databases containing descriptions of national inventions and utility models is currently being provided for 113 organizations.
As part of cooperation agreements between FGU FIPS and regional supporting organizations, the VPTB Division carried out the following work in 2005.
1,251,400 patent documents from Germany, Japan, the countries of central and eastern Europe and the Baltic States were sent to the State Public Scientific and Technical Library, Siberia Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (GPNTB SO RAN) (Novosibirsk) and Rostov State University on optical disks.
A bibliographical index entitled Trademark disputes in the Russian Federation (1992-2004) and a list of bibliographical indexes, prepared by the VPTB Division covering the years 1991 to 2005, were distributed to regional CSTIs (31 organizations).
15 sets with retrospective national patent bibliographical information on optical disks (with a summary index) were sent for use in the study process to the Urals State Technical Institute (Yekaterinburg).
Lists of disclosed national patent documents, missing from the optical disks produced by FGU FIPS for the period 1924 to 1993, were sent to the Khabarovsk CSTI.
In November 2005, a training course was held in the VPTB Division for a staff member of GPNTB SO RAN on matters relating to the organization of patent collections and technology to serve users. Officials of Bashtekhinform (Ufa) and the Mordovia CSTI (Saransk) were provided with consultations on the organization of study of the foundations of intellectual property, work with patent information and the conduct of patent research.
In 2005, in the regions of Russia 34 conferences and seminars concerning intellectual property problems were organized and held with the participation of officials from Rospatent and FGU FIPS: in the Central Federal Region – nine seminars; in the North West Federal Region – five seminars; in the Volga Federal Region – nine seminars; in the Siberian Federal Region – six seminars; in the Southern Federal Region – four seminars; and in the Far East Federal Region – one seminar.
The main themes of the seminars in 2005 were:
the transfer of rights to protected industrial property subject matter;
authors’ remuneration as an instrument of enterprise innovation policy. Ownership rights of authors of service inventions;
the patenting of inventions abroad;
intellectual property protection. Legislation and its application in the fight against counterfeiting.
Each year Rospatent holds conferences, forums and seminars in Moscow with the participation of representatives of international organizations and other States, the aim of which is to organize advertising for the results of scientific research and standard-setting mechanisms in the theory and practice of intellectual property protection, the exchange of experience with national and foreign specialists, and familiarization with the latest developments in national and international legislation in this sphere. The names of the events held in Moscow in 2005 are as follows:
- the Eighth International Industrial Property Exhibition “Archimedes-2005”;
- a scientific and practical conference on the “Problems of protection, defense and use of intellectual property subject matter”;
- an international conference on the Problems of the Theory and Practice of Intellectual Property Protection”; and,
- the third scientific and practical conference for employees of the Rospatent system.
| 1. | Classification is allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a patent application, either before or during search and examination, which symbols are then published with the patent application.
|
| 2. | Preclassification is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or subclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or automated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an application to the appropriate examiner). Usually preclassification is applied by the administration of an office.
|
| 3. | Reclassification is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previously allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revision and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e.g., the IPC). The new symbols are available on patent databases.
|