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IPC Revisions

The IPC classification system is updated (revised) at regular intervals in order to include the latest developments in science and technology. These modifications are initially provided to you in English in our online service "International Patent Classification" and as soon as possible thereafter, in German and French translations. The IPC concordance allows you to best identify the relevant modifications.

You have the option of finding out – from the perspective of the previous edition (concordance direction "old-to-new") - which subclasses have changed in scope and which IPC places have been classified differently under the new edition/version. The concordance direction “new-to-old” shows you which areas of the selected later edition/version are either new or have been modified in comparison to the previous edition/version. This option might be of interest if you intend to find out how patent documents currently classified under a specific IPC place were formerly classified.

The early publication, the compilation file, the Revision Concordance List, the Definitions and the Catchword Index are available for consultation in English and French. The corresponding master files and their by-products are also available.
Please refer to the WIPO Website IPC.

Changes effective from 1 January 2026: IPC version 2026.01

The IPC will gain 517 new headings, whilst 206 headings will be deleted and their content transferred to other headings. In total, the IPC 2026.01 will thus comprise 79,350 main and sub-groups.
Here is a brief summary of the most important changes:

• Section A:
  • "Disinfection or sterilisation of materials or objects in general" (A61L 2/00) is subdivided more finely into 18 new sub-groups. In addition, a new index scheme has been created for materials or objects that are disinfected or sterilised (A61L 103/00), comprising a total of 24 headings.

• Section C:
  • In inorganic chemistry, the section on "Hydrogen" and "Gas mixtures containing hydrogen" (C01B 3/00) has been expanded with 31 new subheadings covering the reversible storage, production and separation of hydrogen.
  • In organic chemistry, existing subheadings under "Immunoglobulins [IG]" (C07K 16/00) are clarified by 30 new sub-groups relating to the defence against substances from viruses and bacteria.
  • The "modification of the physical properties of ferrous metals or iron alloys" (C21D 8/00) is made more specific through the introduction of 10 new sub-groups.

• Section F:
  • Under "Arrangements for supplying, controlling or regulating the flow of air or other gases for drying solid goods or products" (F26B 21/00), all sub-groups are being removed and transferred to 10 new sub-sections, some of which have identical titles.

• Section G:
  • In bioanalytics, 12 new entries have been created under "Immunoassays for the detection of cancer", with a change to the group number (now: G01N 33/575).
  • In the subclass for "Electrical digital data processing", "Installation or power distribution" (G06F 1/18) and "Error detection or error correction in data by means of operational redundancy" (G06F 11/14) are supplemented by a total of 15 new entries.

• Section H:
  • In the subclass for "Electric power networks" (H02J), the circuit arrangements for direct current networks (H02J 1/00), for alternating current networks (H02J 3/00) and for networks not specified as purely direct or alternating current networks (H02J 4/00) together receive 30 new subheadings. "Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries […]" (H02J 7/00) are expanded by 25 new headings, "Circuit arrangements for remote monitoring or remote control of devices in a power distribution network" (H02J 13/00) by 13 new headings, and "Systems for storing electrical energy in power networks" (H02J 15/00) by 5 new entries. At the same time, 35 new index entries are being created.
  • The subclass for "Printed circuits" (H05K) is being expanded by 6 new entries for "Printed circuits structurally combined with non-printed electrical switching elements" (H05K 1/18) and a further 16 subheadings for the "assembly of printed circuits with electrical switching elements" (H05K 3/30).
  • In accordance with the recommendations of the "Expert Group on Semiconductor Technology", further new subclasses are being created for "processes or apparatus for the manufacture or treatment of devices in general covered by class H10" (H10P), comprising 81 subheadings in 17 main groups, and for "packages, interconnections, connectors or other structural details of components in general covered by Class H10" (H10W), comprising 126 subheadings in 17 main groups. At the same time, subclass H01L is being completely removed and transferred to class H10. The majority of these transfers are being carried out as administrative 1-to-1 transfers; see IPC concordance.

• There are also further substantive amendments involving fewer than 10 characters in
  • A23L 15/00 ("Egg products"),
  • C09K 11/00 ("Luminescent materials", 2 index groups),
  • C12N 1/00 ("Microorganisms"),
  • G06Q 10/00 ("Information and Communication Technology [ICT]", specifically designed for the management of an organisation or its staff),
  • G06T 11/00 (“Generation of two-dimensional [2D] images”),
  • G21K 1/00 (“Arrangements for handling ionising radiation or particles”),
  • H04R 1/10 (“Earpieces; their mountings”),
  • and a number of cross-reference transfers into the definitions.

Changes effective from 1 January 2025: IPC version 2025.01

The IPC will gain 730 new headings, 370 headings will be deleted and their content transferred to other headings. In total, the IPC 2025.01 now comprises 79,000 main and sub-groups.
Here is a brief summary of the key changes:

• Section A:
  • The sub-groups listed under "Plant protection" (A01G 13/00) for "Protective covers for plants" (A01G 13/02) are deleted and transferred to 17 new sub-headings under A01G 13/20.
  • In connection with the rearing or breeding of animals (A01K 67/00), following on from the revision of the section on vertebrates last year, the section on the "rearing or breeding of invertebrates" (A01K 67/033) is now also being revised. The corresponding sub-groups are being removed and replaced by 19 new entries under A01K 67/30.
  • A similar change applies to A01N 1/02 ("Preservation of living parts of humans or animals"); here too, the content of the subgroup is being transferred to 19 new entries under A01N 1/10.
  • "Preservation of foodstuffs" is being grouped together in subclass A23B. To this end, methods for the "preservation of foodstuffs in general" are moved as an administrative 1-to-1 transfer from A23L 3/00 to A23B 2/00, and those for the "preservation of non-alcoholic beverages" in particular are moved from A23L 2/42 to A23B 70/00. Furthermore, new headings are created for the preservation of flour or bakery products (from A21D), products made from animal fats (from A23C) and vegetable fats (from A23D), as well as tea, coffee (from A23F) and cocoa (from A23G); see the IPC concordance.
  • A new main group has been created under A61K 40/00 for "Cellular immunotherapy", comprising a total of 26 subheadings.

• Section B:
  • In the case of "containers or packaging with special devices for dispensing the contents" (B65D 83/00), the sub-groups "for dispensing liquid or semi-liquid contents by means of internal gas pressure" (B65D 83/14) and "for dispensing flowable material by means of a piston or the like" (B65D 83/76) have been expanded by a total of 20 new subheadings.

• Section C:
  • In inorganic chemistry, "manganese compounds" (C01G 45/00) have been allocated 21 new entries, "cobalt compounds" (C01G 51/00) a total of 16 new entries, and "nickel compounds" (C01G 53/00) 19 new entries.
  • For "compositions based on homo- or copolymers of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons containing only one carbon–carbon double bond" and their derivatives (C08L 23/00), 11 new sub-groups have been created.

• Section F:
  • The sub-class "Waste heat recovery; flue gas recovery or flue gas treatment" (F27D 17/00) relating to "industrial furnaces, shaft furnaces, kilns or retorts" is allocated 11 new positions.

• Section G:
  • In the case of "Traffic control or monitoring systems for aircraft" (G08G 5/00), all sub-groups are being transferred to 31 new sub-headings.

• Section H:
  • "Methods or apparatus specifically designed for the manufacture, assembly, maintenance or repair of dynamo-electric machines" (H02K 15/00) are further subdivided into a total of 62 new subheadings.
  • Following the recommendations of the "Expert Group on Semiconductor Technology", three new subclasses have been created for "inorganic electrical semiconductor devices" (H10D) with almost 150 subheadings in 17 main groups, for "inorganic semiconductor devices responsive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelengths or corpuscular radiation" (H10F) with almost 100 entries in 8 main groups, and for "Inorganic light-emitting semiconductor devices with potential barriers" (H10H) with 60 entries in 3 main groups. At the same time, over 40 entries from H01L 21/00, as well as the entire H01L 27/00–33/00 sections, are being deleted and transferred. The majority of these transfers are being carried out as administrative 1-to-1 transfers; see IPC concordance.

• There are also further substantive amendments involving fewer than 10 characters in
  • A61K 9/127 ("Liposomes"),
  • B23K 37/00 ("Auxiliary devices or auxiliary processes" in connection with B23K, "Brazing; welding..."),
  • G06F 11/36 ("Prevention of errors by checking or debugging software"),
  • G06F 16/30 ("Retrieval of unstructured text data"),
  • and, once again, a number of cross-reference transfers into the definitions.

Changes effective from 1 January 2024: IPC version 2024.01

The IPC is gaining over 330 new posts, whilst around 30 posts are being abolished and their responsibilities transferred to others.
Here is a brief summary of the key changes:

• Section B:
  • Among the chemical or physical processes, under "Catalysts in general, characterised by their shape or physical properties" (B01J 35/00), all sub-groups are transferred to 35 new headings.
  • The same applies to B08B 1/00 ("Cleaning by processes involving the use of tools"); here, the content of both sub-groups is transferred to 13 new sub-headings.
  • Main group B60K 35/00 is renamed "Instruments specially designed for vehicles; arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles" and is assigned 26 new sub-groups. The sub-groups of B60K 37/00 ("Dashboards") are discontinued and transferred to two new sub-groups under B60K 35/00.
  • In connection with electric powerplants, a total of 21 new subheadings are created in subclass B64D ("Aircraft equipment") within the main groups B64D 27/00 ("Arrangement or mounting of powerplants in aircraft..."), B64D 31/00 ("Engine control...") and B64D 35/00 ("Power transmission from engines to propellers or rotors...").

• Section G:
  • In the field of optical examination methods in particular, the "examination of the characteristics of particles" and "of porous materials" (G01N 15/00) is subdivided in greater detail by a total of 13 new subheadings.
  • Under G05D 1/00, 68 new subheadings and 6 new index schemes comprising a total of 56 new subheadings are created for the "control or regulation of the position, course, altitude or orientation of land vehicles, watercraft, aircraft or spacecraft". All subheadings previously included under this main group are deleted and their contents transferred. Control systems specifically designed for autonomous road vehicles are explicitly excluded.
  • In the field of "image data processing or image data generation in general" (G06T), 31 new positions are added to the main group "Geometric transformations in the image plane" (G06T 3/00), whilst G06T 5/00 ("Image enhancement or restoration") receives 9 new positions.
• Section H:
  • In H04B 5/00 (‘Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive’) too, all sub-groups have been transferred to 15 new headings.

• Furthermore:
  • there are further substantive changes involving fewer than 10 positions in
    • A01K 67/027 ("New or modified breeds of vertebrates"),
    • A61B 6/00 ("Apparatus or devices for radiological diagnosis..."),
  • - A61F 13/00 ("Bandages or dressings"),
    • B64F 1/22 ("Ground or aircraft carrier deck equipment for manoeuvring aircraft"),
    • D06F 39/00 ("Details of washing machines..."),
  • - G01V (Seismology, detection using ionising radiation),
    • G06Q 50/00 (Information and communication technology [ICT] for business processes in specific business areas),
    • H04W 74/08 (Unscheduled channel access in wireless communication networks)
    • and, once again, a number of cross-reference transfers to the definitions.
  • In the case of B32B 1/00 (Layered bodies having a substantially three-dimensional shape), almost all sub-groups are omitted.

Picture: iStock.com/BrianAJackson

Last updated: 29 July 2026