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International Patent Classification (IPC), the standard of classifying patent technology, has been revised to its 8th edition and became effective on January 1, 2006.

Different from the 7th edition of IPC that has been used until 2005, the new 8th edition focuses on the specific and diverse technology trends, as well as reflecting the changing environment for preceding technology search..

Traditional knowledge can be used as an example. Many countries today are giving more recognition to their traditional knowledge. As the importance of such knowledge increases, various efforts are being made to protect and develop traditional knowledge.

In the 7th edition of IPC, herbal medicines, one of the fields representing traditional knowledge, was broadly classified into 4 areas; algae, lichens, fungi and the others. However, in the current 8th edition, herbal medicines, such as ginseng, are divided into 204 codes.
These new patent classes are expected to provide useful information in searching preceding technology.

The 67,634 codes in the previous 7th edition have increased to 68,727, a 1.6% growth. Recent technology trends have been reflected in the contents of the codes, revising about 7,000 codes. This number is about 10% of the total codes in the 7th edition.

Another change in the current IPC is that the revision period has been shortened in order to respond to rapid changes in technology. Previously, IPC was revised every 5 years. Now, revision on patent classification is available at almost any time (as short as 3 months). Also, according to the revised IPC, previous patent documents are reclassified, increasing the efficiency of searching preceding technology.

Thanks to the development of a robust computerized environment, more users are searching for patent data on the internet to see if there is any technology already patented that is similar to what they have invented. The importance of searching preceding technology to prepare a patent application is increasing daily.

The new 8th edition of IPC, storing vast amount of technology in searchable fields, can be used to search preceding technology more accurately and efficiently, saving time and cost.