As 2020 comes to an end and 2021 rolls around, the updated versions of international classifications for trademarks, patents and industrial designs, also known as the Nice Classification, International Patent Classification (IPC) and Locarno Classification, will be enforced in the new year.
This is what you need to know:
Nice Classification 2021
The Nice Classification, an international classification of goods and services applied for the registration of trademarks, will be updated in the New Year as per annually since 2012. The 11th edition of the Nice Classification (NCL 11-2021) will come into force as of 1st January 2021.
Notable updates are as the following:
- 3D printers and industrial robots (gr. 7)
- Humaniod robots with AI (gr. 9)
- Laboratory robots (gr. 9)
- Teaching robots (gr. 9)
- Robots for security monitoring (gr. 9)
- Surgical robots (gr. 10)
- Robot cars (cl. 12)
- Self-playing drums (gr. 15)
- Toy robots (cl. 28)
To find out more about the 11th ed. of Nice Classification, click here. (source: WIPO)
The use of the Nice Classification is compulsory in all the countries under the Nice Agreement.
To read more about Nice Classification, click here.
International Patent Classification 2021
A renewed edition of the International Patent Classification comes into force at the start of every year. The IPC is used to classify patents and utility models according to the different areas of technology to which they belong. The new version of the IPC will become active on 1st January 2021.
A total of approximately 1000 new digits will be a new addition to the IPC. Currently, the IPC has 76500 subdivisions. Significant updates are as the following:
- Expansion of the hats and headgear section.
- Numerous new subdivisions for electrolytic or electrophoretic processes
- 70 new jobs in additive manufacturing
- Major change in the area of electrochemical cell manufacturing as well as mobile phone technology
- Numerous new subgroups in the area of authentication and privacy protection
To find out more about IPC 2021, click here. (source: WIPO)
To read more about IPC, click here.
Locarno Classification 2021
The Locarno Classification, an international classification used for the purposes of the registration of industrial designs, will be updated in the New Year. The 13th ed. of the Locarno Classification will come into force on 1st January 2021. 32 main classes and 237 subclasses of products are established in the previous Classification. In the new Classification, there will be an updated list of goods and products to reflect technological developments.
To find out more about LC 2021, click here. (source: WIPO)
To read more about Locarno Classification, click here.
Quality Oracle are proud of our 28 years of professional experience in all things Intellectual Property. And we can’t wait to make it to 29 years of excellence in 2021. Together, we can reach our IP goals in the New Year. Get in touch today to discover how we can help.