What is the statutory authority for the patent classification system?
The statutory authority for establishing and maintaining the patent classification system is provided in 35 U.S.C. 8. According to MPEP 903.01, this statute states:
“The Director may revise and maintain the classification by subject matter of United States letters patent, and such other patents and printed publications as may be necessary or practicable, for the purpose of determining with readiness and accuracy the novelty of inventions for which applications for patent are filed.”
This authority allows the USPTO to create and update the classification system to efficiently organize and search patent documents, facilitating the examination process and prior art searches.
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