How did class 74.90 split?

Class 74.90, other professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified, split into two classes in NACE Rev. 2.1: class 74.91, patent brokering and marketing service activities, and class 74.99, all other professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified. Paragraph 183 of the manual states the split. The old class number is not reused. The split does not determine a code for a specific reader.

What was split out of the residual class?

Patent brokering and marketing service activities were split out of the residual class into their own class, 74.91. The new class is also listed in paragraph 135 among the new intermediation classes, with the same title. The double listing is informative: the class is both a result of the split of the residual class and a member of the new intermediation family created across the classification. The intermediation family is covered in the new classes cluster, and the class must be read in both contexts, as a split result and as an intermediation class, because the notes for the class state its content in terms that belong to both accounts.

The split follows the manual’s usual principle for a residual class. When an activity inside a residual class becomes identifiable and significant, it is given its own class, and the residual class continues with a narrower scope. Patent brokering and marketing, as a service that brings together the holder of a patent and a potential user or buyer, is identifiable as a distinct service, and the manual gives it a class of its own. The residual class, 74.99, continues to hold the remaining professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified, as its title states, with the word all signalling that the residual scope is now defined by exclusion from the specific class and from the other classes in the division.

What remains in the residual class?

Class 74.99 carries the title all other professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified. The title is longer than the old title, because the word all has been added to mark the narrower residual scope after the split. The note for the class states what remains, including the inclusions and exclusions that define the residual scope after patent brokering has been removed. Section 4 does not reproduce the note, and this guide does not state an inclusion list for the residual class that it has not verified from the note. The note must be read, together with the notes for the specific classes in the division, before the residual class is quoted for any purpose.

The residual class must not be read as a general container for professional work. Work that belongs in division 69, legal and accounting activities; division 70, activities of head offices and management consultancy; division 71, architectural and engineering activities; division 72, scientific research and development; or division 73, advertising and market research, is excluded by the notes for those divisions, even where the work resembles the residual title in general terms. The residual class applies only after the specific classes in the division, and the specific divisions in the section, have been considered. The order of reading matters, and the notes state it by their exclusions.

How is the split shown?

| NACE Rev. 2.1 class | Title in the manual | Character |

|---|---|---|

| 74.91 | Patent brokering and marketing service activities | Specific class, split out, also an intermediation class |

| 74.99 | All other professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified | Residual class, narrower scope |

The table follows paragraph 183 and paragraph 135. It states the two results and their character, and nothing more, because section 4 states nothing more about the split. The explanatory notes for the two classes, and the correspondence table, supply the content and the mapping. The table in this guide summarises the manual summary, and quoting it as the content of either class would misstate it.

What does a split not decide?

A service split is a change in the published categories. It is not a decision about a specific unit. Scopes for a change from one old group or class to two or more new classes sit in the correspondence table, and inclusions and exclusions sit in the explanatory note for each new class. Neither document picks a new class for a specific unit. The classification is statistical only. A code settles none of the tax, licensing, social security, collective agreement or funding questions, and a unit’s entry is confirmed by the institute or register holding the record.

Where is a split class confirmed?

The check for a split class runs in three steps. First, the section 4 summary in the manual for the change as adopted. Second, the explanatory notes for the new classes, for inclusions and exclusions. Third, ask the institute or register for the entry actually held. This guide gives the first step and points to the other two.

Separate patent brokering into class 74.91, use the residual class only for what remains, and confirm the entry with the institute or register that holds it.