MPEP Section 903.02(c), Establishing Subclasses and Cross-Reference Art Col-lections

Executive summary:

This document contains Section 903.02(c) ("Establishing Subclasses and Cross-Reference Art Col-lections ") of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (the "M.P.E.P."), Eighth Edition, Eighth Revision (July 2010). This page was last updated in January 2011. You may return to the section index to find a particular section. Alternatively, you may search the MPEP using the search box that appears on the left side of every page of BitLaw--you may restrict your search to the MPEP on the search results page.

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903.02(c) Establishing Subclasses and Cross-Reference Art Col-lections [R-5]

**>Any examiner having the Technology Center Director's approval to create new subclasses should contact the supervisory patent classifier (SPC) for his or her technology< before work is begun. The SPC will assist the examiner in establishing any new subclass ** by >(A)< providing appropriate instructions on how to transfer patents from an existing subclass to a new subclass, **>(B)< determining the title >and definition< of the newly established subclass **, and >(C)< assigning the numeric designation to be placed on the new subclass **.

All newly created subclasses will be made official so as to be a part of the defined classification system. **>New classification data will be added to the Subclass Data File (SDF) and Master Classification File (MCF) as appropriate. Concurrently, all automated classification indices and systems, including the EAST and WEST search tools, will be updated to reflect the new classification changes.<