Inventions, Classification of

the assignment of inventions to groups according to a set system.

The classification of inventions is often incorrectly called patent classification, although it is technical solutions (inventions) which are classified, not patents, and patents (certificates) are issued not only for inventions but also for usable models, industrial prototypes, new plant varieties, and so on. The list of groups (titles) with an indication of the corresponding indexes is called the index of classes (titles) of inventions. Development of national classifications of inventions began in the 18th century, at the same time as the institution of legal protection for inventions; the best-known classifications are the American, German, British, Japanese, Australian, and Cuban systems.

In 1968 development of an international patent classification was completed. It consists of 115 classes and 50,000 headings. In accordance with the Strasbourg Convention (1971) this classification is used in most of the industrially developed countries for indexing descriptions of inventions. The number of documents of current registration indexed each year according to this classification of inventions reached 400,000 in 1971. This classification has been used in the USSR since 1970 as the state classification of inventions (the official name is the International Classification of Inventions). In addition to classifications of inventions there are also classifications of industrial prototypes and trademarks.