C12J - Definition

Definition statement

This subclass covers:

Vinegar is a liquid, e.g. for human consumption, produced exclusively from suitable raw materials, i.e. starting materials, containing starch and/or sugars by the process of double fermentation, first alcoholic and then acetous.

Vinegar production which is based on fermentation of natural starting materials, e.g. wine, alcohol, milk, rice, pumpkin, coconut water, by acetic acid bacteria growing in a medium containing ethyl alcohol

Vinegar compositions containing at least one substance produced by fermentation

Methods for vinegar preparation by means of combining biochemical processes and physical treatment, e.g. by using mother of vinegar (bacterial culture) with adding sugar to start or to accelerate fermentation process and using heat treatment for maintaining fermentation temperature or for pasteurization

Purification of vinegar by means of filtration, absorption, ion exchange e.g. by passing through active carbon layer or a bed of ion-exchange resin material, or by using of molecular sieve

Addition of flavouring ingredients, e.g. pepper to make vinegar spicier, orange-peel or lemon juice to get citrus taste

Apparatus for preparation of vinegar i.e. bioreactors

Apparatus for purification of vinegar such as absorbers, ion exchange apparatus, filters

Relationship between large subject matter areas

C12J covers vinegar, per se, and vinegar compositions containing at least one substance produced by fermentation which are used for human consumption.

The product resulting from merely diluting concentrated synthetic acetic acid is not considered vinegar for the purposes of C12J. Preparation of acetic acid per se, by chemical synthesis is normally classified in several groups of subclass C07C e.g. C07C 53/08, C07C 51/00.

C12J covers biochemical aspects of vinegar preparation, whereas the use of vinegars per se for different purposes are classified in the appropriate application places of the IPC, e.g. in A23B for food preservation, in A23L for food, foodstuff or nonalcoholic beverages (e.g. as a condiment A23L 27/00), in A21D as ingredient for bread compositions, in A61K for medical or toilet purposes, A23C in dairy products, C12G for preparation of alcoholic beverages.

Informative references

Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:

Separation, e.g., filtration absorption in general	B01D
Preparation of acetic acid by organic synthesis	C07C 51/00 – C07C 51/38
Separation, purification or stabilisation of acetic acid	C07C 51/42 – C07C 51/50
Synthetic acetic acid prepared by chemical synthesis	C07C 53/08
Apparatus specially adapted to employ microorganisms or enzymes as "reactants" or "biocatalysts"	C12M 1/00
Acetic acid Bacteria	C12N 1/20
Preparation of acetic acid by fermentation or enzyme-using processes	C12P 7/54

Special rules of classification

In this subclass, it is desirable to add the indexing codes of subclass C12R to complement classification by additional information relating to the microorganisms used in fermentation processes.

Glossary of terms

In this subclass, the following terms or expressions are used with the meaning indicated:

Vinegar

A sour liquid consisting of dilute and impure acetic acid, obtained by acetous fermentation from grape or fruit wine, cider, beer, ale or the like used for human consumption.