Where does Bell and Howell, LLC rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Bell and Howell, LLC ranks #19,507 of 49,997 assignees by granted-patent volume, the same sort as the companies listing and top-holders ranking. See /methodology/#corpus-placement.

How many patents does Bell and Howell, LLC hold?

Bell and Howell, LLC holds 14 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 17 technology areas.

What is Bell and Howell, LLC's Innovation Score?

Bell and Howell, LLC has an Innovation Score of 36.7 out of 100 (top 46% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

Is Bell and Howell, LLC's patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Bell and Howell, LLC's recent grant velocity is -56% compared to the prior five-year period (grant years, not application filing dates). Grant activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for Bell and Howell, LLC's patents?

Bell and Howell, LLC's patents average 21.3 claims each. This is an aggregate descriptive count from the grant record; it does not establish claim scope, legal strength, enforceability, or design-around risk.

How is the Bell and Howell, LLC patent data sourced?

All patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering US granted utility patents from 2015 to 2025.

USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

Bell and Howell, LLC

Q: What technology areas does Bell and Howell, LLC focus on?

Bell and Howell, LLC's top technology area is B65G (Transport OR Storage Devices, e.g. Conveyors FOR Loading OR Tipping, Shop Conveyor Systems OR Pneumatic Tube Conveyors) with 4 patents, ranking #501 of 1,746 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 17 CPC subclasses total.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 14 granted patents across 17 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2015–2025. Grant-trend analysis is cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search; it does not measure application filings, current R&D, or legal strength. Primary class: B65G (Transport OR Storage Devices, e.g. Conveyors FOR Loading OR Tipping, Shop Conveyor Systems OR Pneumatic Tube Conveyors).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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Explore the portfolio See the ranking

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Bell ranks #19,507 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 14 patents across 17 technology areas.

#19,507
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 46%
by Innovation Score (36.7/100): 21.3
avg claims per patent: -56%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R19507 · US Corporation #19,507 · 14 grants

GRANTS-MICRO · MID-PACK · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-FOCUS · INNOV-THIN · CLAIMS-DENSE · TYPE-USCORP · VEL-DROP · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-MICRO 14 grants
MID-PACK #19,507/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Beijing information…
CPC-FOCUS B65G · 17 areas
INNOV-THIN 36.7/100
CLAIMS-DENSE 21.3 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-DROP -56% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Beijing information Science & Technology University (±0 grants)

Instrument codes from this assignee’s USPTO PatentsView grant sheet: volume band, corpus rank, photo-finish peer, lead CPC, Innovation Score, claim depth, assignee type, velocity, and book completeness. Not a USPTO rating of patent strength.

How Bell’s 36.7 Innovation Score adds up

The same four weighted components behind every Innovation Score on PlainPatent: portfolio volume, grant velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth.

Volume 9.4 pts (26%) Velocity 0.0 pts (0%) Breadth 14.6 pts (40%) Claim depth 12.8 pts (35%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Bell and Howell · this assignee

37
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Bell's Innovation Score is 36.7/100 (top 46% of the PatentsView-derived corpus). The chart places that score against the nearest Innovation Score peers plus corpus poles, not a reprint of the volume ranking.

Does more volume mean deeper claims for Bell?

Each dot is one of Bell’s 8 nearest volume peers (same corpus rank neighbourhood as the chart above), placed by total granted patents (horizontal) against average claims per patent (vertical). Bell’s own 21.3 claims/patent is ABOVE the 11.9 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

Bell vs its 8 nearest volume peers: granted patents vs average claims per patent. Source: USPTO PatentsView.

Where Bell's grants concentrate

Bell and Howell, LLC is a focused PatentsView assignee: 17 CPC subclasses with 28.6% of grants classified under B65G (Transport OR Storage Devices, e.g. Conveyors FOR Loading OR Tipping, Shop Conveyor Systems OR Pneumatic Tube Conveyors). Peak complete grant year is 2015 (4 grants) versus a trough of 1 in 2016. By volume, Bell sits between Beijing Innocare Pharma Tech Co., Ltd. and Biglobe Inc..

Beijing Innocare…

14
Beijing Xiaoniao…

14
Beijing Zhongxian…

14
Beijing informati…

14
Benecke-kaliko

14
Berry Metal

14
Beyond Innovation…

14
Biglobe

14
Bell and Howell ◀

14

What this shows Bell holds 14 patents at rank #19,525, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Bell

By rank, the assignees closest to #19,525 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in B65G (Transport OR Storage Devices)

Other assignees with the most granted patents in Bell's primary technology class.

Bell's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

Composite of portfolio volume, grant velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth (0–100)

37 Top 46% higher than 54% of 49,997 US assignees

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US assignees. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source USPTO PatentsView, PlainPatent Innovation Score · 2015–2025

USPTO utility patent grants by year · 2015–2025

Grants by year

Teal-shaded recent years (2020–present) versus the 2015–2019 baseline. Full figures in the table below.

View data table

Bell and Howell, LLC patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	4	28.6%
2016	1	7.1%
2017	3	21.4%
2018	1	7.1%
2021	4	28.6%
2025partial year	1	7.1%

Which technologies does Bell and Howell, LLC patent most?

B65G - Transport OR Storage Devices, e.g. Conveyors FOR Loading OR Tipping, Shop Conveyor Systems OR Pneumatic Tube Conveyors 4

B65H - Handling Thin OR Filamentary Material, e.g. Sheets, Webs, Cables 3

G07B - Ticket-issuing APPARATUS; Fare-registering APPARATUS; Franking Apparatus 3

G06Q - Information AND Communication Technology [ICT] Specially Adapted FOR Administrative, Commercial, Financial, Managerial OR Supervisory PURPOSES; Systems OR Methods Specially Adapted FOR Administrative, Commercial, Financial, Managerial OR Supervisory Purposes, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 3

B65D - Containers FOR Storage OR Transport OF Articles OR Materials, e.g. Bags, Barrels, Bottles, Boxes, Cans, Cartons, Crates, Drums, Jars, Tanks, Hoppers, Forwarding CONTAINERS; Accessories, Closures, OR Fittings THEREFOR; Packaging ELEMENTS; Packages 3

G05B - Control OR Regulating Systems IN GENERAL; Functional Elements OF Such SYSTEMS; Monitoring OR Testing Arrangements FOR Such Systems OR Elements 2

B07C - Postal SORTING; Sorting Individual Articles, OR Bulk Material FIT TO BE Sorted Piece-meal, e.g. BY Picking 2

B43M - Bureau Accessories NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 2

B42D - BOOKS; Book COVERS; Loose LEAVES; Printed Matter Characterised BY Identification OR Security FEATURES; Printed Matter OF Special Format OR Style NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Devices FOR USE Therewith AND NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Movable-strip Writing OR Reading Apparatus 2

Y10T - Technical Subjects Covered BY Former US Classification 2

B26D - CUTTING; Details Common TO Machines FOR Perforating, Punching, Cutting-out, Stamping-out OR Severing 1

B23K - Soldering OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; Cladding OR Plating BY Soldering OR WELDING; Cutting BY Applying Heat Locally, e.g. Flame CUTTING; Working BY Laser Beam 1

B65C - Labelling OR Tagging Machines, Apparatus, OR Processes 1

B60P - Vehicles Adapted FOR Load Transportation OR TO Transport, TO Carry, OR TO Comprise Special Loads OR Objects 1

G07F - Coin-freed OR Like Apparatus 1

Top 15 of 17 technology areas

More on this record

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

View all rankings → How is Innovation Score calculated?

What to do with this data

Bell and Howell, LLC's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

Bell and Howell, LLC's lead technology class is B65G (Transport OR Storage Devices, e.g. Conveyors FOR Loading OR Tipping, Shop Conveyor Systems OR Pneumatic Tube Conveyors), 28.6% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore B65G
Ranked #19,507 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Bell and Howell, LLC against Beijing Innocare Pharma Tech Co., Ltd., an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 36.7/100 blends volume, velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth. How it's calculated

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through May 2026; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the USPTO PatentsView database. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sources used on this page

USPTO PatentsView - the disambiguated bulk patent-grant, assignee, and CPC data this page's figures are derived from. patentsview.org
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) - the joint USPTO/EPO classification scheme used to group patents by technology area. cooperativepatentclassification.org
USPTO Patent Public Search - the official interface to verify the status of any individual patent. ppubs.uspto.gov

Compiled by PlainPatent , US Patent Intelligence Editorial Process · May 15, 2026

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2026.