British patent classifications

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The Abridgment of patent specifications gives summaries of patents approved over periods of several years. They are divided into Classes, of which Aeronautics was Class 4; hence GB 4. We will be using additional sub-classifications within GB 4 based on the subject index included at the beginning of the Abridgment. These sub-classifications were not exclusive of each other; one patent could be included in several.

Great Britain Design Classifications

A useful site by Russ Allen called historicip.com refers to Great Britain Design Classifications, which are different from the ones in the Abridgments, but look like patent categories. Can we figure out when these were developed and took effect? For now we are assuming that they do not apply to the patents up to 1920ish on this site.

  • Main class list - class numbers are in the range 1-31 and 99 for miscellaneous
  • Sorted so the "largest" classes are at the top: [1]
  • Up close, showing some or all subclasses: [2]
  • Up close on transport, which includes a category for "Aircraft and space vehicles", suggesting this category system was started long after 1920. [3]
  • Close in on machine parts: [4]
  • Category 21, which includes catapults: [47]
  • General overview of pages on several country systems: https://historicip.com/cpc/
  • Source: Russ Allen, historicip.com
Enclosing categories Patent category systems
Subcategories GB 4, GB 122, GB 123
Keywords
Start year
End year