Jul.13 (China IP News) -- SIPO and EPO decided to renew the MOU on beefing up patent classification cooperation. The new MOU will be effective for 6 years, which includes practice, training, data exchange and safeguard mechanism. "The new MOU will further contribute to strengthen and expand cooperation on patent classification between the two offices, and gives powerful support to the CPC used by SIPO in the future," said a relevant expert.

According to the MOU, SIPO would classify all invention patent applications in technology field via CPC since January this year, and share the relevant classification data with EPO. EPO continues to provide specific CPC classification training for SIPO. Both SIPO and EPO would hold regular work group meeting to discuss topics on quality assurance, information technology and training exchange.

In a bid to improve the quality of China's patent documentation, enhance examination efficiency of different countries for using Chinese patent documentation, and give better service to global users, SIPO signed a three-year contract with EPO in June 2013, deciding to gradually introduce CPC to classify Chinese patent documentation, thus becoming SIPO's inner classification system together with IPC. The original MOU expired in June this year. During that period, EPO had provided over one hundred specific training courses for classification. SIPO has selected some newly released invention patents and tried to classify them via CPC classification, with a total documentation of 470,000. (by Wang Chunhui)

2016-07-13

2016-07-13