G16 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
Description
G16 encompasses information and communication technology systems and methods developed for specialized application domains beyond general computing. This class covers ICT solutions tailored to specific industries and sectors such as healthcare, finance, agriculture, environmental monitoring, and scientific research, where domain-specific requirements drive the technical design. It includes software architectures, data management systems, communication protocols, and digital tools customized for particular operational contexts rather than general-purpose computing applications. G16 excludes fundamental ICT technologies classified in G06 (computing, data processing) and G08 (signaling systems), focusing instead on the intersection of ICT with sector-specific technical challenges.
IPC and CPC are identically structured here. All 5 subcodes exist in both systems.
IPC defines codes here since 2018.
Child Classifications
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- G16B BIOINFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR GENETIC OR PROTEIN-RELATED DATA PROCESSING IN COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR BIOLOGY heading since 2019 IPC+CPC Available in IPC and CPC
- G16C COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY; CHEMOINFORMATICS; COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS SCIENCE heading since 2019 IPC+CPC Available in IPC and CPC
- G16H HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA heading since 2018 IPC+CPC Available in IPC and CPC
- G16Y INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE INTERNET OF THINGS [IoT] heading since 2020 IPC+CPC Available in IPC and CPC
- G16Z INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR heading since 2019 IPC+CPC Available in IPC and CPC
Top Applicants
Top Applicants (IPC)
2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT
- PHILIPS ELECTRONICS NL 4,707
- IBM (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION) US 1,767
- SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY KR 1,458
- CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1,144
- ILLUMINA US 1,097
- SIEMENS HEALTHCARE DE 1,074
- PHILIPS ELECTRONICS 1,026
- FUJIFILM JP 990
- PING AN TECHNOLOGY COMPANY 892
- ROCHE CH 864
Top Applicants (CPC)
2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT
- PHILIPS ELECTRONICS NL 7,379
- SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY KR 2,740
- IBM (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION) US 2,388
- PHILIPS ELECTRONICS 1,849
- SIEMENS HEALTHCARE DE 1,697
- FUJIFILM JP 1,618
- ILLUMINA US 1,335
- ROCHE CH 1,264
- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA US 1,181
- DEXCOM US 1,150