Israel Patent Office (ILPO) Becomes the Latest Member of the CPC International Family

Israel Patent Office (ILPO) Director Asa Kling, and USPTO Director Michelle K. Lee, signed a Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in April 2016.   ILPO will start to classify their patent applications using CPC beginning September 1.

To prepare for the ILPO transition to CPC, a USPTO delegation, led by Classification Quality and International Coordination (CQIC) Acting Director Christopher Kim and including Christine Behncke, John Mabry, and Bo Peng visited ILPO July 17 - 21. During their week-long visit, the USPTO delegation provided ILPO examiners with general training on CPC classification and searching, as well as field-specific training in chemical, electrical, and mechanical/surgical areas of interest.

ILPO consists of more than 130 patent examiners and is an International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). 

CPC is used by more than 45 patent offices globally for classification search since its launch by the USPTO and the European Patent Office (EPO) on January 1, 2013. As more patent offices worldwide join our CPC system, CPC users, including USPTO examiners, will have greater access to patent documents.

For more information, contact Christopher Kim.