What is the role of the United States Patent Classification (USPC) system in modern patent searches?
The United States Patent Classification (USPC) system, while no longer the primary classification system, still plays a role in modern patent searches:
- Serves as a secondary classification system
- Remains available for searching older U.S. patent documents
- Complements the CPC system for comprehensive searches
According to MPEP 902, “The United States Patent Classification System (USPC) is also available for searching.” While the CPC has become the primary system, the USPC remains valuable for searching historical patent documents and ensuring thorough prior art searches across multiple classification systems.
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