A structured system, the so-called classification is available for patents/ utility models. On the one hand, the classification helps to systematically classify and categorise the relevant applications for inventive activities and, on the other hand, provides a means for targeted retrieval of the relevant published documents.
The symbols or the notation of the classification can be used as search criteria in the DPMAregister search forms ("Basic search", "Monitoring" and "Expert search"). The classification applied here is the International Patent Classification (IPC) including the DEKLA list.
The IPC is divided into eight sections (A to H). The sections are further divided into classes and subclasses with about 70,000 subdivisions (groups and subgroups). To simplify use this subdivision is represented by a classification symbol, e.g. A23C 3/02.
DEKLA is not an independent classification system but a name for DPMA-internal subdivision groups of the current IPC version used for archiving purposes only.
DPMA classifies publications of German patent and utility model documents exclusively according to the IPC. But examiners of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office may use subdivisions of IPC groups for the subsequent storage of relevant documents in the database archive in order to further refine prior art searches if IPC is not sufficient. These subdivisions are called DEKLA groups. DEKLA currently comprises nearly 40,000 subdivisions in addition to the IPC; the combined classifications have about 110,000 subdivisions.
The additional DEKLA group symbols are identified by a letter/number combination, beginning with a letter. This combination is added, with a leading space, to the IPCclassification symbol. DEKLA groups extend the dot hierarchy of the relevant IPC group. They are placed at least one hierarchical level lower than the respective IPC group. Their titles are only available in German. Within DEPATISnet, documents saved in this archive are only searchable within the fields ICP (search file IPC) and IC (all IPCfields).
Example:
© 2019 Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt | Stand vom 24.07.2020