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Nanotechnology Patent Class

As a response to the rapid rate of increase in the development of nanotechnology research and development, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has established a special patent class devoted to nanotechnological subject matters and technical documents: class 977. Materials included in this class are nanostructures distinguished by a manufactured physical dimension measuring 1 to 100 nanometers (nm), and by at least one special function resulting directly from that dimension's manufacture.

Overview of the Patent System

The nanotechnology patent class is one element of a complex system used to organize patent documents, and in order to understand the significance and structure of the class, it is first necessary to understand basic aspects of the larger system. The U.S. Patent Classification System serves to organize patents, patent applications, and other technical documents into groupings based on related subject matter. In order to aid in accessing technical materials and enable more efficient examination of patent applications, the system arranges these documents according to technological types, known as classes, and further groups them into subclasses based on functional qualities, structural attributes, and processes contained within a given type. All classes, and most subclasses, are associated with their own specific alphanumeric character, so that a unique class/subclass identification, known as a classification symbol, identifies the vast majority of the system's documents.

Classes are also distinguished into four types, based on whether they are mandatory or discretionary, as well as on the type of document to be categorized. Classifications based on the principal claim of an issued patent are known as original classifications and are mandatory for every U.S. Patent and Trademark Office-issued patent in the system. Cross-reference classifications are those other than the original classification; when based on invention information disclosed in an issued patent, they are mandatory; if based on other information, such classification is discretionary. Published patent applications are assigned one mandatory classification known as a primary classification. A mandatory secondary classification is attached to any invention information disclosed in an application when that information cannot be classified under the primary classification; and any other information not related to the invention but of potential use in retrieving the document may receive a discretionary secondary classification. There are more than 450 classes and an excess of 150,000 subclasses within the Patent Classification System.

The Birth of the Nanotechnology Patent Class

On August 3, 2004, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office modified the patent classification system by inaugurating class 977/Dig. 1, the first patent class for documents pertaining specifically to nanotechnological inventions and art. Class 977/Dig. 1 was abolished on November 1, 2005, as class 977, containing subclasses 700–964, was established. This new class differs from its predecessor primarily by its inclusion of specific definitions of patent documents and other technical materials to be included within its scope, and by delineation of its subclasses. Class 977 contains patent documents and technical materials in five subclasses concerning five types of subject matter: (1) a nanostructure and chemical architectures of nanostructure; (2) devices including one more nanostructures; (3) software programs that model nanostructures or their properties; (4) nanostructure manufacturing, detection, analysis or treatment methods; and (5) devices, systems and processes that include a nanostructure component and perform a particular function.

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