INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS

Classification Context

Section:: PHYSICS
Class:: 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.

Filing statistics

IPC G16 recorded 301,932 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023, summed across its 5 subclasses. Annual filings grew from 8,963 in 2013 to 51,605 in 2023 (+476%). The most active applicants in class G16 are PHILIPS ELECTRONICS (4,707 applications), IBM (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION) (1,767 applications) and SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY (1,458 applications).

Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings

5 direct subcodes

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
G16C COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY; CHEMOINFORMATICS; COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS SCIENCE
G16H HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
G16Y INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE INTERNET OF THINGS [IoT]
G16Z INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

Top Applicants

Top 10 applicants by patent filings, 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