In batch, the > is a redirection sign used to output data into a text file. The compare op’s available (And recommended) for cmd are below (quoted from the if /? help):
where compare-op may be one of:
EQU - equal
NEQ - not equal
LSS - less than
LEQ - less than or equal
GTR - greater than
GEQ - greater than or equal
That should explain what you want. The only other compare-op is == which can be switched with the if not parameter. Other then that rely on these three letter ones.