The table below lists the data fields available for searching in the Beginner's, Expert and IKOFAX modes.
| Field name | Field | Search mode | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Expert | IKOFAX | |||
| Publication data | Publication number | (PN) | + | + | + |
| Country of publication | (PC) | + | + | + | |
| Publication date | (PUB) | + | + | + | |
| Publication year | (PY) | + | + | ||
| Applicant/Owner | (PA) | + (L) | + | + | |
| Inventor | (IN) | + (L) | + | + | |
| Kind code | (PCOD) | + | + | + | |
| Text fields | Title | (TI) | + | + | + |
| Abstract | (AB) | + | + | ||
| Description | (DE) | + | + | ||
| Claims | (CL) | + | + | ||
| Full text data (only DE, EP and WO!) | (BI) | + | + | + | |
| Application data | Application number | (AN) | + | + | |
| Country of application | (AC) | + | + | ||
| Application date | (AD) | + | + | ||
| Application year | (AY) | + | + | ||
| Priority data | Priority number | (PRN) | + | + | |
| Country of priority | (PRC) | + | + | ||
| Priority date | (PRD) | + | + | ||
| Priority year | (PRY) | + | + | ||
| Citations | Cited patent documents | (CT) | + | + | |
| Cited non-patent literature | (CTNP) | + | + | ||
| Bibliographic IPC fields | Bibliographic IPC (global field) | (ICB) | + | + | |
| IPC main class | (ICM) | + | + | ||
| IPC secondary class | (ICS) | + | + | ||
| IPC additional class | (ICA) | + | + | ||
| IPC index classes | (ICI) | + | + | ||
| Version of the IPC main, secondary and additional classes | (ICMV, ICSV, ICAV) | + | + | ||
| Classification level of the IPC main, secondary and additional classes | (ICML, ICSL, ICAL) | + | + | ||
| Reclassified IPC fields | reclassified IPC (global field) | (MCD) | + | + | |
| MCD main class | (MCM) | + | + | ||
| MCD secondary class | (MCS) | + | + | ||
| MCD additional class | (MCA) | + | + | ||
| Classification level of MCD main, secondary and additional classes | (MCML, MCSL, MCAL) | + | + | ||
| Other classification fields | Search file IPC | (ICP) | + | + | |
| Cooperative patent classification | (CPC) | + | + | ||
| All classification fields | (IC) | + | + | + | |
| Other fields | |||||
| Field available | (FA) | + | |||
| Field not available | (FN) | + | |||
Below you find a short explanatory description of the searchable data fields.
Publication number (PN)
An IP application or granted IP right is published under the publication number. It consists of a country code, document number and kind code.
More information about patent documents of Germany and foreign countries is available in German language only:
DPMAinformativ no. 3 'Informationen über Patentdokumente des In- und Auslands (IPIA)'
For the available data please refer to the table Data coverage : The column "FAX" indicates the percentages of document numbers for which the archive contains a document.
| Search for | Search Expression |
|---|---|
| DE 10328846 A1 (Country code, document number, kind code) Information on the - country codes - structure of national and foreign publication numbers |
DE10328846A1 |
| - alternative spelling | DE 10328846 A1 or DE 103 288 46 A1 |
| - standardised format: country code, 12-digit document number, kind code | DE000010328846A1 |
| All publications (A1, B4, ... ) for DE10328846 | DE10328846 |
| Publications with country code "DE" | DE |
| Publications with country code "DE" and with kind code "B3" | DE?B3 |
Country of publication (PC)
The country where the IP application or patent specification has been published.
A list of the two-letter country codes is available at: Standard ST. 3
Publication date (PUB)
The day of the publication of an IP application or granted IP right by printing or similar process.
For the available data please refer to the table Data coverage : The column "PUB" indicates the percentages of document numbers for which the field "Publication date" in the archive has a content.
Table 1: Date values
Table 2: Date ranges
| Example | Scheme | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 06.03.2009 | dd.mm.yyyy | German format |
| 6.03.2009 | d.mm.yyyy | German format |
| 06.3.2009 | dd.m.yyyy | German format |
| 6.3.2009 | d.m.yyyy | German format |
| 06.03.09 | dd.mm.yy | German format |
| 6.03.09 | d.mm.yy | German format |
| 06.3.09 | dd.m.yy | German format |
| 6.3.09 | d.m.yy | German format |
| 20091026 | yyyymmdd | ISO format (without separators) |
| Example | Scheme | Type |
|---|---|---|
| M01-2009 | M < mm >-< yyyy > | all data records from the 1st month of the year 2009 (January 2009) |
| KW12-2009 | KW < ww >-< yyyy > | all data records from the 12th calendar week of 2009 |
| Q3-2009 | Q < q >-< yyyy > | all data records from the 3rd quarter of 2009 |
| J-2009 | J- < yyyy > | all data records from the year 2009 |
Publication year (PY)
The year of publication of the patent application or patent specification.
Applicant/Owner/Inventor (global field in the Beginner's search)
A search in this field simultaneously finds applicants, owners and inventors of published patents and patent applications as well as owners of published utility models. Applicants and owners may be natural or legal persons (for example, companies), inventors can only be natural persons. Naming of inventors is only applicable in the patent procedure; consequently, utility model data do not include the field "Inventor".
For the available data please refer to the table Data coverage: The columns "PA" and "IN" indicate the percentages of document numbers for which the respective field in the archive has a content.
The following table contains input options for the search mode "Beginner".
Meaning of wildcards used:
? represents any number of characters or no characters
! represents precisely one character
# represents one character or no characters
After a left truncation or setting of a placeholder at the left edge an input of further truncations/placeholders is not allowed
Allowed entries:
Invalid entries:
| Search for | Search Expression |
|---|---|
| Heinrich Schmidt | Heinrich Schmidt |
| Company "Schmidt und Söhne" alternative spelling "Schmidt & Söhne" | schmidt söhne |
| "Schmidt" of Hamburg | schmidt hamburg |
| Applicant/Owner/Inventor from Canada [Country codes in WIPO-Standard ST. 3] |
CA |
| Company "Smith" in Canada | smith ca |
| Schmidt alternative spelling Schmid | schmid# |
| Schmitt alternative spelling Schmitz | schmit! |
| ...schmitt Examples: Schmitt, Kleinschmitt, Goldschmitt |
?schmitt |
| Schmi(e)dl... Examples: Schmidl, Schmiedler, Schmidleitner |
schmi#dl? |
Applicant/Owner (PA)
A search in this field simultaneously finds applicants of published patent applications as well as owners of published patents and utility models. Applicants and owners may be natural or legal persons (for example, companies).
Inventor (IN)
Natural person(s) who is (are) the creator(s) and author(s) of an invention. Company names are not displayed / cannot be searched in this field. Naming of inventors is only applicable in the patent procedure; consequently, a search in this field does not return a utility model.
Kind code (PCOD)
The kind code clearly identifies the different types of documents (for example, published patent application, patent specification, utility model).
Title (TI)
The designation of the patent application, the patent or the utility model.
For the available data please refer to the table Data coverage: The column "TI" indicates the percentages of document numbers for which the field "Title" in the archive has a content.
The following table contains input options for the search mode "Beginner".
Meaning of wildcards used:
? represents any number of characters or no characters
! represents precisely one character
# represents one character or no characters
After a left truncation or setting of a placeholder at the left edge an input of further truncations/placeholders is not allowed
Allowed entries:
Invalid entries:
| Search for | Search Expression |
|---|---|
| < Mikroprozessor > | mikroprozessor |
| < Mikroprozessor > and < Speicher > | mikroprozessor speicher |
| < Mikroprozessor > and < Chip > and < Speicher > | mikroprozessor chip speicher |
| Word string < Speicher für einen Mikroprozessor > | "speicher für einen mikroprozessor" |
| < Mikrowelle > alternative spelling < Microwelle > | mi!rowelle |
| < Mikroprozessor > alternative spelling < microprocessor > | mi!ropro!essor |
| < Mikrowelle > alternative spelling < Mikrowellen > | mikrowelle# |
| < Mikrowelle(n) > alternative spelling < Microwelle(n) > | mi!rowelle# |
| < Mikrowelle... > alternative spelling < Microwelle... > Examples: Mikrowelle, Mikrowellenherd, microwellengeeignet |
mi!rowelle? |
| < ...mikroprozessor > Examples: Mikroprozessor, Sprachmikroprozessor, Multimikroprozessor |
?mikroprozessor |
Abstract (AB)
Concise summary of the technical information contained in the description, the patent claims and the drawings.
Description (DE) (searchable only in German, European and WO-documents)
Explanation of the subject-matter of the invention, usually supplemented by embodiments of the invention.
Claims (CL) (searchable only in German, European and WO-documents)
Description of the essential subject-matter of the invention for which protection is sought. After the grant the claims determine the scope of protection of the invention.
Full text data (BI)
A full text search covers the data fields "Description" (DE), "Title" (TI), "Abstract" (AB) and "Claims" (CL), however among the available data there are numerous documents with data fields without content.
For the available data please refer to the table Data coverage : The columns "DE", "TI" and "AB" indicate the percentages of document numbers for which the respective field in the archive has a content.
The following table contains input options for the search mode "Beginner".
Meaning of wildcards used:
? represents any number of characters or no characters
! represents precisely one character
# represents one character or no characters
After a left truncation or setting of a placeholder at the left edge an input of further truncations/placeholders is not allowed
Allowed entries:
Invalid entries:
| Search for | Search Expression |
|---|---|
| < Mikroprozessor > | mikroprozessor |
| < Mikroprozessor > and < Speicher > | mikroprozessor speicher |
| < Mikroprozessor > and < Chip > and < Speicher > | mikroprozessor chip speicher |
| Word string < Speicher für einen Mikroprozessor > | "speicher für einen mikroprozessor" |
| < Mikrowelle > alternative spelling < Microwelle > | mi!rowelle |
| < Mikroprozessor > alternative spelling < microprocessor > | mi!ropro!essor |
| < Mikrowelle > alternative spelling < Mikrowellen > | mikrowelle# |
| < Mikrowelle(n) > alternative spelling < Microwelle(n) > | mi!rowelle# |
| < Mikrowelle... > alternative spelling < Microwelle... > Examples: Mikrowelle, Mikrowellenherd, microwellengeeignet |
mi!rowelle? |
| < ...mikroprozessor > Examples: Mikroprozessor, Sprachmikroprozessor, Multimikroprozessor |
?mikroprozessor |
Application number (AN)
The official file number accorded to the IP application upon filing by the patent authority. Possible input options for application numbers (file reference) are:
102008015769
"10 2008 015 769"
'10 2008 015 769'
Country of application (AC)
The country where the IP application has been filed.
A list of the two-letter country codes is available at Standard ST.3.
Application date (day of filing) (AD)
The day of the regular filing of an IP application with the patent authority. For the admissible entry formats see the section "Publication date" (above).
Application year (AY)
The year of the regular deposit of the IP application with the patent authority.
Priority number (PRN)
The file number of the first application for a patent or a utility model with a patent authority which is a member of the Paris Union (Paris Convention).
Within 12 months, any subsequent applications filed with patent authorities of the other countries of the Paris Union are treated as if they were filed on the same day as the first application (Art. 4 Paris Convention).
Country of priority (PRC)
The country where the first application for a patent or a utility model was filed with a patent authority of a country of the Paris Union (Paris Convention).
Within 12 months, any subsequent applications filed with patent authorities of the other countries of the Paris Union are treated as if they were filed on the same day as the first application (Art. 4 Paris Convention).
Priority date (PRD)
The day when the first application for a patent or a utility model was duly filed with a patent authority of a country of the Paris Union (Paris Convention).
Within 12 months, any subsequent applications filed with patent authorities of the other countries of the Paris Union are treated as if they were filed on the same day as the first application (Art. 4 Paris Convention).
Priority year (PRY)
The year when the first application for a patent or a utility model was duly filed with a patent authority of a country of the Paris Union (Paris Convention).
Within 12 months, any subsequent applications filed with patent authorities of the other countries of the Paris Union are treated as if they were filed on the same day as the first application (Art. 4 Paris Convention).
Cited patent documents (CT)
Publication numbers of patent documents ascertained by patent examiners in the search or examination procedure.
Cited non-patent literature (CTNP)
Publications in the technical journals, books, brochures, catalogues, the Internet, etcetera or DIN standards ascertained by patent examiners in the search or examination procedure.
General information about classification fields
The classification symbols of the International Patent Classification (IPC), used in the classification fields, allow you to search for patent documents irrespective of the terminology and language used in these documents.
Patent documents whose technical content is covered by the scope of an IPC group are allotted the classification symbol of this IPC group. By this means, they are organised and become searchable.
More detailed information and links:
All classification fields (IC)
The 'all classification fields' (IC) field is a global field and allows simultaneous searching within the following classification fields: bibliographic IPC, reclassified IPC and search file IPC (IC = ICB + MCD + ICP).
The meaning of these three classification fields is described below.
For the available data please refer to the table Standard ST.3 : The columns "ICM", "MCD" and "ICP" indicate the percentages of document numbers for which the respective field in the archive has a content.
Input options for classification symbols in the Beginner's search:
F17D5/00
F17D5-00
F17D0005000000 (standardised)
General information about the bibliographic IPC fields (ICB, ICM, ICS, ICA, ICI)
The bibliographic IPC contains the classification symbols that the competent patent offices have allocated to patent documents. The classification symbols are displayed on the first page of any patent document under (51) (INID code). In the 'bibliographic data record' of DEPATISnet, the bibliographic IPC data are displayed according to main, secondary, additional and index classes (ICM, ICS, ICA, ICI).
After IPC revisions (adaptations of the IPC to technological development) the bibliographic IPC data are, on principle, maintained in DEPATISnet. For this reason, patent documents which were published prior to an IPC revision and whose classification symbols were affected by an IPC revision can, as a rule, not be retrieved using the latest IPC classification scheme. Rather, the search must be based on the IPC classification scheme valid at the time of publication (see, by contrast: General information about reclassified IPC fields).
As the IPC has been used for classifying patent documents since the early 1970s only, just a small fraction of earlier published patent documents are searchable by means of the bibliographic IPC.
These older documents were subsequently classified and are searchable via the reclassified IPC fields (MC fields) or the search file IPC (ICP) field.
Bibliographic IPC global field (ICB)
This field allows simultaneous searching within the following bibliographic IPC fields: main, secondary, additional and index classes (ICB = ICM + ICS + ICA + ICI).
IPC main class (ICM)
The bibliographic main class identifies the main technical field in which the invention falls and is indicated first on patent documents.
IPC secondary class (ICS)
The bibliographic secondary class identifies the technical fields in which the invention falls in addition to the IPC main class. It is indicated on patent documents in the second or a later place.
IPC additional class (ICA) (prior to 2006 referred to as IPC additional information on description)
Identifies non-trivial technical information in patent documents which is not claimed and does not form part of the invention as such but which might constitute a useful information for the searcher.
IPC index class (ICI)
In specific areas of the IPC it is possible to additionally search for a technical subject matter, based on a different aspect. Indexing codes are used for this purpose. They are allocated exclusively in combination with the classification symbols for which the indexing scheme is designed.
To find out if indexing codes have been introduced in a certain IPC area, please see the notes provided in the relevant classification scheme.
Note: The ICI field only contains the IPC index classes until February 2006. Since then, IPC index classes have been saved in the field 'IPC additional class' (ICA) (see information on this field).
Versions of the IPC main, secondary and additional classes (ICMV, ICSV, ICAV)
When searching for patent documents you can use the version indicators assigned to the individual bibliographic IPC symbols if required. The version indicators show in which edition/version of the IPC the allocated IPC symbol was introduced or last modified. IPC symbols not revised since 1 January 2006 are allotted together with the version indicator 2006.01. IPC symbols that have been subject to revision after 1 January 2006 are being allotted together with the corresponding version indicator from the date of the IPC revision (e.g. 2007.01).
Notes:
Classification levels of the IPC main, secondary and additional classes (ICML, ICSL, ICAL)
When bibliographic classification symbols are being attributed, it is additionally mentioned, since 1 January 2006, whether classification was performed according to the core, advanced or subclass level of the IPC. The classification level applied is identified by the letters C (core level), A (advanced level) or S (subclass level), standing for different sets or sub-sets of the IPC. For a full display of the advanced and core levels, please go to . WIPO has also published a country table on its website where you can see which IPC level is applied by the individual patent offices.
Note: Please use the (L) operator, not the AND operator, for combining IPC symbols and classification level symbols in your search request; a search example is provided in , section 5.3.2. (in German).
General information about reclassified IPC fields (MCD, MCM, MCS, MCA)
Upon each IPC revision (adaptation of the IPC to technological development), all patent documents are reclassified that were previously included in the 'Master Classification Database' (MCD) and were affected by the revision. In the MCD, established by the European Patent Office, all patent documents included are allotted currently valid IPC symbols.
Based on the latest edition/version of the IPC, you can search within the MCD fields and even find old patent documents (mainly going back until 1920) that had initially been allotted other classification symbols. You can search within the bibliographic IPC fields to find the IPC symbols originally allotted by the competent patent office (see ' General information about the bibliographic IPC fields').
For each classification symbol of the advanced level, the corresponding classification symbol of the core level is generated automatically here, in contrast to the bibliographic IPC. The 'bibliographic data record' of DEPATISnet displays reclassified IPC data according main, secondary and additional classes.
Reclassified IPC global field (MCD)
This field allows simultaneous searching within the following reclassified IPC fields: MCD main, secondary and additional classes (MCD = MCM + MCS + MCA).
MCD main class (MCM)
The reclassified main class identifies the main technical field in which the invention falls.
Notes:
MCD secondary class (MCS)
The reclassified secondary class identifies the technical fields in which the invention falls in addition to the MCD main class. For patent documents published prior to 2006, the former main class will mostly be found in this field too. For this and the usage of the field MCS see under 'MCD main class' (MCM).
MCD additional class (MCA) (prior to 2006 referred to as IPC additional information on description)
Here you can search for the additional classes (additional information) and the index classes within the reclassified IPC. For a description of the additional classes please see 'IPC additional class' (ICA). For a description of the index classes please see 'IPC index class' (ICI).
Classification levels of the MCD main, secondary and additional classes (MCML, MCSL, MCAL)
For any reclassified IPC symbol it is specified whether the symbol refers to the advanced, core or subgroup level of the IPC. For the symbols identifying the different classification levels please see 'Classification levels of the IPC main, secondary and additional classes'.
Note: Please use the (L) operator, not the AND operator, for combining MCD symbols and classification level symbols in your search request; a search example is provided in , section 6.3. (in German).
Search file IPC (ICP)
The examiners of the DPMA store incoming patent documents in the so-called 'search file' under the classification place which they consider to be useful for future searches within a specific technical field. This classification is called search file IPC and may differ from the bibliographic IPC.
In the search file IPC field, you can conduct searches for DEKLA symbols (German classification extending the IPC) (example: B60P 1/28 A1), in addition to the standard IPC symbols. If you search using standard IPC symbols in this field, you should always truncate (example: B60P 1/28?) in order to include possible lower DEKLA groups in the search.
DEKLA groups are only searchable in the search file IPC (ICP) field and in the global IC field.
Search file CPC (CPC)
The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a joint classification scheme of the EPO and the USPTO. It is based in large part on the existing European Classification System (ECLA) to ensure compliance with the International Patent Classification system (IPC) standards adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The CPC is divided into the nine sections, A to H and Y, which in turn are sub-divided into classes, sub-classes, groups and sub-groups. There are approximately 250,000 classification entries.
Field available (FA)
The field "FA" enables you to conduct a search for documents in which certain fields, such as Title (TI), IPC Main Class (ICM) or Applicant (PA), are filled with data
The search is only possible in the IKOFAX mode.
Input option: pa/fa
Field not available (FA)
The field "FN" enables you to conduct a search for documents in which certain fields, such as Title (TI), IPC Main Class (ICM) or Applicant (PA), are not filled with data
The search is only possible in the IKOFAX mode.
Input option: ic/fn
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