US PATENT CLASS 433
Class Notes
Current as of: June, 1999
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DEFINITION
Classification: 433/
This class is a specific class under the broader class of Surgery and includes methods directed to or including specific dental steps, e.g., taking impressions of the teeth or gums, adapting a plate or model to a particular mouth formation, mounting teeth on a plate in a particular way, etc.; apparatus, implements, and devices relating to the treatment of teeth or gums, or the replacement of teeth.
LINES WITH OTHER CLASSES
APPARATUS
Inasmuch as this class is defined in terms of specific rather than proximate function, many of the apparatus provided for in this class are also provided for broadly in the proximate function classes. Unless otherwise stated, patents claiming such apparatus should be classified as follows: patents with claims reciting structure peculiar to dentistry should be
placed as originals in Class 433. Use of the functional adjective "dental" will not in itself cause placement in Class 433. For example, "a dental mirror comprising...", without further peculiar dental structure recited is classified broadly with mirrors in Class 359, Optics: Systems (Including Communication) and Elements (subclass 882 for a mirror with a handle). However, the recitation of means to prevent fogging or accumulation of water from a drill dictates classification in Class 433. Use of nouns peculiar to dentistry such as "a dental handpiece..." or "an articulator comprising...", will cause classification in Class 433. Apparatus and implements classified in Class 433 are generally those of the type used by a dentist. However, Class 433 will take a device which is disclosed as being used by individuals upon their own teeth, if not provided for elsewhere.
METHODS
Methods including steps normally performed by a dentist are classified in Class 433. Methods for making prostheses and appliances and which contain only those steps which are performed by a technician (e.g., molding, die shaping, etc.) are classified in the appropriate manufacturing class. Methods of treating a tooth by application of a named composition are classified in Class 433 if more than the mere application to a tooth is claimed (e.g., an additional step of drilling, cleaning, filling, etc.).
PROSTHESES OR APPLIANCES
Class 433 will take claims to a dental prosthesis or appliance, per se, unless claimed in terms of a particular composition or material and no structural limitations are recited. Patents including a claim to a composition, per se, are classified in the appropriate composition class. REFERENCES TO OTHER CLASSES
SEE OR SEARCH CLASS
29, Metal Working,
592+, for miscellaneous processes for making dental parts; subclasses 426.1 for methods of disassembly; and subclasses 426.1+ for methods of assembly.
72, Metal Deforming,
60+, and 343+ for forming metal dentures or portions thereof by die shaping.
75, Specialized Metallurgical Processes, Compositions for Use Therein, Consolidated Metal Powder Compositions, and Loose Metal Particulate Mixtures, appropriate subclasses for alloys for making and filling teeth, and other dental prostheses.
106, Compositions: Coating or Plastic,
35, for coatings or plastic compositions specialized for dental use.
134, Cleaning and Liquid Contact With Solids, appropriate subclasses for methods and apparatus for cleaning dentures.
164, Metal Founding, appropriate subclasses for apparatus and methods for casting dental parts of metal. See particularly 376, for investment type molds.
206, Special Receptacle or Package,
63.5, for a special container, package, or carrying case for a dental implement, material, or article.
264, Plastic and Nonmetallic Article Shaping or Treating: Processes,
16+, for processes of molding dental parts of material other than metal, where a specific dental step is not recited.
378, X-Ray or Gamma Ray Systems or Devices, appropriate subclasses for X-ray sources, detectors, and related apparatus, or methods of using such apparatus in dentistry for producing images of teeth.
420, Alloys or Metallic Compositions,
526+, for amalgams, per se, which may be useful for dental purposes.
422, Chemical Apparatus and Process Disinfecting, Deodorizing, Preserving, or Sterilizing, appropriate subclasses for processes for sterilizing or disinfecting dental apparatus, and for apparatus for chemically disinfecting or sterilizing dental implements.
427, Coating Processes,
2.1+, for processes for making dental products comprising a coating step (e.g., dental implements, dental prostheses, etc.).
451, Abrading, 28+, for a process for abrading a dental prosthesis.
520, Synthetic Resins or Natural Rubbers, appropriate subclasses, particularly Class 523,
105+, for nonmedicated compositions containing a synthetic resin having utility specifically intended to be for contact with animal living tissue, especially subclasses 109 and 113- 120 for dental compositions or to processes of preparing said
compositions.