The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a global patent classification system developed by the USPTO and the European Patent Office (EPO).
Visit this webpage to access CPC training materials prepared by the USPTO and EPO.
1. Select your CPC scheme of interest.
B Performing Operations; Transporting
F Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating; Weapons; Blasting
2. Drill down into the scheme to see groups, classes, and subclasses to find the CPC code that best matches your area of interest. Things of note in the image below:
a. The blue box with the letter D indicates that there is a definition statement available. Click to box to view (see step 3 for example).
b. The CPC code underlined in yellow below is A47J 19/00. In order to search using this CPC code, you'll need to remove the space.
c. The dots in front of the subclasses reflect the hierarchy. Drilling down to the most specific subclass will help focus your search results to be both manageable and relevant.
3. Read the definition when available and review the references for what is not covered in the CPC code (Limiting References) and other CPC codes (Informative References) to consider.
4. Search for the patents associated with that CPC code. Click here to view instructions on how to search Patent Public Search by classification code.