This class provides for compositions for treating living terrestrial and aquatic plants or their habitats for the purpose of stimulating or inhibiting growth, or any regulating action on plant growth, and the processes of using such compositions or compounds, per se, for such purposes which are not more than their mere application to the plant or habitat. The compositions or compounds included in this class will alter the plant growth through a chemical modification of the plant metabolism.
This class also provides for: (1) Seeds coated or impregnated with agricultural chemicals other than fertilizers, e.g., antidotes, plant growth regulators, micro-organisms, fungicides, disinfectants, etc. (2) Processes and their products which are of definite fertilizer value and are also insecticides, fungicides, or deodorants. These patents are
cross-referenced to Classes 424 and 514. (3) Antidotal compositions, i.e., compositions which contain compounds capable of protecting cultivated plants from being damaged by herbicidal chemicals without affecting the herbicidal action of said chemicals against the weeds or unwanted plants to be controlled. (4) Soil life extenders, i.e., compositions which contain a herbicide and a compound useful for extending the soil life of said herbicide. (5) Compositions for preserving cut flowers. (6) Compositions for stimulating or increasing the sprouting of seeds, roots, tubers, or bulbs. (7) Compositions for regulating aquatic plants, particularly algae. (8) Compositions for regulating plant growth which use micro-organisms or products derived therefrom.
CLASSIFICATION GUIDELINES FOR THIS CLASS
In this class the chemical structure of the ingredient disclosed as having a utility set forth in the Statement of Class Subject Matter, above, is used as the primary basis of classification. Processes of using compositions or compounds, per se, and processes of making compositions, not provided for elsewhere are classified in the first appearing subclass providing for the particular active ingredient being employed or prepared.
The subclasses drawn to plural active ingredients include compositions which contain two or more active plant growth regulating agents, e.g., two or more herbicides.
No weight is given to a synergist or potentiator agent in classifying a composition for this class unless the synergist or potentiator agent is also an active plant growth regulator.
A patent claiming a Class 504 active ingredient broadly in terms of its function in combination with a specific adjuvant or carrier has been classified as original in the first appearing subclass providing for any one of the disclosed specific active ingredients and cross-referenced to all other subclasses providing for the remaining disclosed active ingredients. NOTES TO THE CLASS DEFINITION
(1) Note. Compounds included within this definition, but not considered organic are hydrocyanic acid, cyanogen, isocyanic acid, cyanamide, dicyanamide, cyanogen halides, isothiocyanic acid, fulminic acid, and metal carbides.
LINES WITH OTHER CLASSES
GENERAL GUIDELINES:
(1) Compositions which are disclosed as having a plurality of functions provided for in different main classes and only a single use, property, or function is claimed, are originally classified in the composition class providing for such
claimed use, property, or function and cross-referenced to other classes for disclosed uses, properties, or functions when desirable.
(2) The rules for determining Class placement of the Original Reference (OR) for claimed chemical compositions are set forth in the Class Definition of Class 252 in the section LINES WITH OTHER CLASSES AND WITHIN THIS CLASS, subsection COMPOSITION CLASS SUPERIORITY, which includes a hierarchical ORDER OF SUPERIORITY FOR COMPOSITION CLASSES.
SEARCHING OF FOREIGN PATENTS IN THIS CLASS (504)
The foreign patents for subclasses 100 and 103-357 of Class 504 have been placed in the International Patent Classification System (in subclass A01N) and will be searched in that system according to its rules of classification.
REFERENCES TO OTHER CLASSES
SEE OR SEARCH CLASS
47, Plant Husbandry, 57.6, for processes of treating the soil and its product (1) which do not involve the application of a specific plant growth regulating composition to terrestrial or aquatic plants or their habitats, or (2) which are more than mere application of a specific composition to the plant or the soil, e.g., include some mechanical manipulation of the plant or soil. Search particularly subclass 57.6 for coated or impregnated seeds not more specifically provided for elsewhere.
71, Chemistry: Fertilizers, for compositions having a nutrient or fertilizing effect on plant growth and methods of using such compositions, and for compositions of seeds and fertilizers. Compositions which include a plant stimulant and a fertilizer are classified in Class 504.
204, Chemistry: Electrical and Wave Energy, appropriate subclasses for electrical or wave energy methods involving chemical reactions which are caused by more than the mere thermal effects of the electrical or wave energy for the preparation of compounds or elements useful for plant growth regulating compositions.
424, Drug, Bio-Affecting and Body Treating Compositions, appropriate subclasses for processes of application of insecticides, fungicides, fumigants, disinfectants, etc., to plants or soil as well as seeds coated with a Class 424 composition wherein the seed functions as a bait material. Compositions which include a plant growth regulator and a biocide are classified in Class 504. If claims are drawn to a "pesticide" composition or method without specifically reciting the nature of the "pest" to be controlled or eradicated, the patent is placed as an original in Class 424
or 514 when only a Class 424 or 514 type of "pest" (e.g., fungi, insect, rodent, etc.) is revealed in the patent disclosure. However, if both Class 504 and Class 424 or 514 types of "pest" are specifically disclosed or if no disclosure is made as to the specific type of pest, the patent is placed in Class 504 as an original and cross-referenced to Class 424 or 514.
435, Chemistry: Molecular Biology and Microbiology, for making, separating, or purifying substances by processes that include fermentations; for processes of making or treating living organisms, enzymes, or ferments; and for compositions or apparatus for use in such processes.
514, Drug, Bio-Affecting and Body Treating Compositions, appropriate subclasses for processes of application of insecticides, fungicides, fumigants, disinfectants, etc., to plants or soil as well as seeds coated with a Class 514 composition wherein the seed functions as a bait material. Compositions which include a plant growth regulator and a biocide are classified in Class 504. If claims are drawn to a "pesticide" composition or method without specifically reciting the nature of the "pest" to be controlled or eradicated, the patent is placed as an original in Class 424 or 514 when only a Class 424 or 514 type of "pest" (e.g., fungi, insect, rodent, etc.) is revealed in the patent disclosure. However, if both Class 504 and Class 424 or 514 types of "pest" are specifically disclosed or if no disclosure is made as to the specific type of pest, the patent is placed in Class 504 as an original and cross-referenced to Class 424 or 514.
516, Colloid Systems and Wetting Agents; Subcombinations Thereof; Processes of Making, Stabilizing, Breaking, or Inhibiting, appropriate subclasses for subject matter relating to: colloid systems (such as sols*, emulsions, dispersions, foams, aerosols, smokes, gels, or pastes) or wetting agents (such as leveling, penetrating, or spreading); subcombination compositions of colloid systems containing at least an agent specialized and designed for or peculiar to use in making or stabilizing colloid systems; compositions and subcombination compositions specialized and designed for or peculiar to use in breaking (resolving) or inhibiting colloid systems; processes of making the compositions or systems of the class; processes of breaking (resolving) or inhibiting colloid systems; in each instance, when generically claimed or when there is no hierarchically superior provision in the USPC for the specifically claimed art.
800, Multicellular Living Organisms and Unmodified Parts Thereof and Related Processes, appropriate subclasses for living multicellular organisms, e.g., plants, etc., and separated or severed parts thereof that have not undergone any modification or treatment subsequent to their separation, e.g., untreated seeds, etc.
GLOSSARY:
The organic chemical structure terminology used in this class is consistent with that used in the Glossary for Class 532 - Organic Compounds -- Part of the Class 532-570 Series ACTIVE
The expression active as used herein denotes a plant growth regulating effect.
HERBICIDE
The term denotes a compound or composition which adversely affects the growth or the life span of a plant.
ORGANIC
The term organic denotes compounds containing carbon, which are further characterized by the presence in a molecule thereof of two carbon atoms bonded together; or one atom of carbon bonded to at least one atom of hydrogen or halogen; or one atom of carbon bonded to at least one atom of nitrogen by a single or double bond.
PLANT
The term plant refers to all physical parts of a plant, including seeds, seedlings, saplings, roots, tubers, stems, stalks, foliage, and fruits.
PLANT GROWTH
Plant growth includes all phases of development from seed germination to natural or induced cessation of life.
POTENTIATOR or SYNERGIST
The terms denote an agent (A) which will cooperatively act with an active ingredient for this class (B) to the extent that the total effect (A+B) will be greater than the sum of the two effects taken independently.