Patent Resources -- US Patent Classification Glossary

US Patent Classification Glossary -- An alphabetical list of the definitions of terms of art that appear within the body of the US Patent Classification system class definitions.

The US Patent Classification (USPC) system includes definitions of key terms relevant to the definition of the types of inventions included in the classification.

USPTO uses these words to define what the specific term means in the context of the classifications. These are terms of art — a term that has a specialized meaning in a particular chemical, electrical, or mechanical scientific or engineering domain. Within the current US Patent Classification system a word can have a different meaning depending on the area of invention that it resides in. There are three different definitions for the word "Active" — one that pertains to pharmacology and biology; one that relates to plant growth; and a third that deals with an "active database." There are five definitions of "Acylic", three for "Address Data"; five for "Alkali Metals."

Way Better Patents' data wizards pulled all of the definitions from all of the classes that had definitions and assembled them into one alphabetical collection.  You can click the link and find the definition as it appears in the Class description.

The advantage of this presentation is that you can see what all three instances of the term "Address Data" mean and then click the link to the actual class definition of the one you think is most important to you and explore what it means.  It also helps people new to researching patents understand the impact of how different terms are used within different domains.  This becomes important when you are researching inventions where technology is converging - a medical device with a software component, or a smoke detecting cell phone for example.

The legend below will help you to navigate to the alphabetical list of terms.

| A | B | C-CL | CM-CZ | D-DIM | DIM-DZ | E | F | G | H | I | J-K | L | M-MET | MET-MZ | N | O | P-PHA | PHE-PON | POR-PZ | Q | R | S-SEPA | SEPO-SMT | SN-STEM | STEP-SZ | T-TOG | TON-TZ | U | V | W | X-Z |

Way Better Patents has a variety of patent information tools designed to make information about patents more accessible and easier to understand.   From time to time we post updates on these tools here.

(So far we haven't heard anything about how these in situ  (a patentesque word meaning in place) will be reflected in the nascent Cooperative Patent Classification system (CPC) but it's still good to understand the different meaning of different words when they are used within the definition of particular classes of art (groups of inventions) at USPTO.)

The Sometimes Inscrutable Patent Argot

The Bioluminescent Novelty Device

Patent Argot — the strange vocabulary of patents — is the specialized idiomatic vocabulary that is peculiar to the patentsphere.

 "Argot" a special language, especially that of an underworld group, devised for private communication and identification; a language with its own style, grammar, and vocabulary."

(The underworld part is from the dictionary) 

Inventions have always created new vocabulary. 
Creating new words to describe inventions has been around for as long as man has been inventing things. In the 1500s, Leonardo Da Vinci created his own words for his inventions. Da Vinci's first flying machine was defined as the "ornithopter" — ornithos for bird and pteron for wing. In 1863, Ponton D'Amecourt invented the term helicopter to define his flying machine — "helico" spiral - "pter" for wings. A contemporary version of these inventions is the VTOL — the Vertical Take Off and Landing vehicle.

USPTO's Patent Argot — A Glossary of Terms from the USPC
Way Better Patents has assembled a master glossary of all of the definitions contained in the US Patent Classification System in alphabetical order along with the USPC Class from which the definition is drawn. This enables you to look up the USPTO meaning of words and terms of art based on the scientific or technical domain from which the definition came — definitions in context. This will help you understand how particular words are used relative to the specific types of inventions and patents.

Patent Argot and Patent Crafting and The Patentsphere
Inventors need to craft language that is as broad as possible so that their patent explains something previously unknown while at the same time providing vocabulary that can reach into the future to cover things not yet invented. Fuzzy boundaries on an current invention help a patent be more flexible. Inventors have defined Portable Law Enforcement Data Processing Devices (handheld parking ticket issuing devices), Single Action Ordering System (one click purchases - see Amazon and iTunes) and Social Expression Communications (greeting cards).

On a nice day in the patentsphere you let your kids play with the Bioluminescent Novelty Device.

An Impenetrable Wall
Patent argot creates an impenetrable wall between you and the patents that you care about. It can be what keeps you from finding what you are looking for; why you are never quite sure if your freedom to operate report covered all the right stuff; and what drives that strange feeling you get when you've read a patent and but have no idea what it says. (Have you ever heard someone say "preferred embodiment" in real life?) Way Better Patetns is hoping to help fix that problem.

To use the glossary start here.

The Secret Language of Patents

The difficulty of forming a clear conception of the subject is increased by the fact that while we have to deal with novel and strange facts, we have also to use words in novel and inconsistent ways.
— The Difficulty of Forming a Clear Conception: The Telegraph. Harpers Magazine 366, 1873

A Glossary of USPTO's Terms of Art

This is a glossary of the terms the USPTO has defined within the US Patent Classification System — The USPC.

USPTO's Own Patent Argot 
USPTO uses these words to define what the specific term means in the context of the classifications. There are also terms of art — a term that has a specialized meaning in a particular chemical, electrical, or mechanical scientific or engineering domain. Within the current US Patent Classification system a word can have a different meaning depending on the area of invention that it resides in. There are three different definitions for the word "Active" — one that pertains to pharmacology and biology; one that relates to plant growth; and a third that deals with an "active database." There are five definitions of "Acylic", three for "Address Data"; five for "Alkali Metals", and we aren't even out of the A's yet.

For people who aren' patent cognoscenti, finding the specific definitions for particular terms in your industry or one you want to explore can be difficult. So we assembled all of the definitions in one place. Here all of the terms are presented in alphabetical order along with the class from which we harvested the definition. The USPC Glossary enables you to browse all of the different definitions for the same term in one place and see what the specific patent class is where the definition is used.

Cooperative Patent Classification SystemUSPTO and their colleagues at the European Patent Office (EPO) are moving to a new the Cooperative Patent Classification System (CPC). Our classification experts are on the job builidng tools to help you transition from the USPC to the CPC. As the Cooperative Patent Classification system evolves, we will add any new or different definitions that arise to assist you in making the transition to the new classification system. We will also seeing if there are differences that warrant thinking about inventions in a new way in order to look for an find prior art. The change in classification philosophy from classifying based on the claim to classifying the invention in light of the claim is probably going to require a different perspective in the hunt for prior art.

We hope this is a helpful tool for exploring the patentsphere.

| A | B | C-CL | CM-CZ | D-DIM | DIM-DZ | E | F | G | H | I | J-K | L | M-MET | METH-MZ | N | O | P-PHA | PHE-PON | POR-PZ | Q | R | S-SEPA | SEPO-SMT | SN-STEM| STEP-SZ | T-TOG | TON-TZ | U | V | W | X-Z |

A Caveat
The Definitions were taken verbatim from the USPC Class Definitions. We are in the process of integrating the images that help explain the definitions. They should be available shortly, If you would like to see the rest of the information about a particular class, just use the link next to the definition an it will take you to USPTO USPC digital repository.