Detail
The F-term classification system consists of themes and terms.
The coverage area of the IPC is divided into approximately 2900 themes with each theme spanning a range of IPC subgroups. A theme is identified by the title describing the range or the theme code which consists of five digits allocated uniquely to each theme; for example, a theme spanning IPC range A01K 87/00–87/06 is identified by its title "Fishing rods" and its theme code is 2B019. Some themes only span one IPC subgroup, such as theme 2F011, "Tape measures" which covers IPC G01B 3/10.
Each theme has a number of viewpoints and each document is classified repeatedly for each viewpoint in the respective theme. For example, theme 2F011 "Tape measures" has the following four viewpoints: tape measures, housings, driving of tape measures and accessories.
From each viewpoint, documents are classified into several groups and labeled with a four-digit code called the term or F-term. For example, from the viewpoint "tape measures", which focuses on measuring tape itself rather than winding mechanism or housing of tape, all measuring tape documents are classified into eight groups such as AA02 "scales for special applications", AA05 "tapes with cores containing synthetic resins", etc.
All terms concerning a theme are put into a tabular form called an F-term list, which are available online, e.g., 2B019 and 2F011. (Some descriptions of F-terms may seem strange because of incorrect translation from the original Japanese.)
Read more about this topic: F-term (patent Law)
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