USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 494 granted patents across 128 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: B23Q (DETAILS, COMPONENTS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR MACHINE TOOLS, e.g. ARRANGEMENTS FOR COPYING OR CONTROLLING ; MACHINE TOOLS IN GENERAL CHARACTERISED BY THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARTICULAR DETAILS OR COMPONENTS; CO).

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

494

Total patents granted

128

CPC technology areas

6.8

Avg claims per patent

-20%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

Citizen holds 494 US patents across 128 technology areas, rank #907 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#907
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 9%
by Innovation Score (53.5/100): 6.8
avg claims per patent: -20%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. has been granted 494 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. at rank #907 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 128 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 6.8 claims per patent with primary concentration in B23Q (DETAILS, COMPONENTS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR MACHINE TOOLS, e.g. ARRANGEMENTS FOR COPYING OR CONTROLLING ; MACHINE TOOLS IN GENERAL CHARACTERISED BY THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARTICULAR DETAILS OR COMPONENTS; CO). As a Foreign Corporation, Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, Citizen sits between Eastman Chemical Company (498 patents, rank #903) and Inphi Corporation (491 patents, rank #911) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 53.5/100 blends portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth into a single comparable measure drawn directly from USPTO PatentsView records.

Filing cadence tells the strategic story. Between 2020 and 2025 the company received 219 grants, compared with 275 in the 2015–2019 window, a -20% shift in five-year velocity. A cooling filing rate may reflect portfolio consolidation, shifting priorities, or reduced R&D throughput. The Foreign Corporation classification further shapes interpretation, since corporate, government, and individual filers pursue patents for materially different reasons.

Claim depth and technology breadth together indicate competitive posture. Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.'s 6.8 average claims per patent suggests focused, narrowly drawn claims typical of single-invention filings, while a diversified footprint across 100+ CPC subclasses spreads risk across many technology fronts. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Eastman Chemical

498
University OF Mar…

497
Symbol

496
Wilus Institute O…

496
The United States…

494
Citizen Watch ◀

494
Analog Devices Gl…

493
Fitbit

492
Inphi

491

What this shows Citizen holds 494 patents at rank #907, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Citizen

By rank, the assignees closest to #907 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in B23Q (Details)

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

Citizen's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

53 Top 9% higher than 91% of 50,000 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

Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	7	1.4%
2016	19	3.8%
2017	98	19.8%
2018	70	14.2%
2019	81	16.4%
2020	56	11.3%
2021	54	10.9%
2022	32	6.5%
2023	28	5.7%
2024	24	4.9%
2025	25	5.1%

Which technologies does Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. patent most?

B23Q - DETAILS, COMPONENTS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR MACHINE TOOLS, e.g. ARRANGEMENTS FOR COPYING OR CONTROLLING ; MACHINE TOOLS IN GENERAL CHARACTERISED BY THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARTICULAR DETAILS OR COMPONENTS; COMBINATIONS OR ASSOCIATIONS OF METAL-WORKING MACHINES, NOT DIRECTED TO A PARTICULAR RESULT 56

H10H - INORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES HAVING POTENTIAL BARRIERS 56

B23B - TURNING; BORING 55

H01L - SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10 55

G05B - CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS 44

G04C - ELECTROMECHANICAL CLOCKS OR WATCHES 36

G04B - MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS 31

Y10T - TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION 29

B41J - TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS 23

G02B - OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS 21

G04G - ELECTRONIC TIME-PIECES 21

F21V - FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS OF LIGHTING DEVICES OR SYSTEMS THEREOF; STRUCTURAL COMBINATIONS OF LIGHTING DEVICES WITH OTHER ARTICLES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 20

F21Y - INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES F21K, F21L, F21S and F21V, RELATING TO THE FORM OR THE KIND OF THE LIGHT SOURCES OR OF THE COLOUR OF THE LIGHT EMITTED 18

H01H - ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES 16

F21K - NON-ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES USING LUMINESCENCE; LIGHT SOURCES USING ELECTROCHEMILUMINESCENCE; LIGHT SOURCES USING CHARGES OF COMBUSTIBLE MATERIAL; LIGHT SOURCES USING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES AS LIGHT-GENERATING ELEMENTS; LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 15

Top 15 of 128 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Moderate

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Simple

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#907

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

53.5 out of 100

View all rankings →

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

How is Innovation Score calculated?

Frequently Asked Questions

How many patents does Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. hold?

Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. holds 494 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 128 technology areas.

What is Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.'s Innovation Score?

Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. has an Innovation Score of 53.5 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. focus on?

Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.'s top technology area is B23Q (DETAILS, COMPONENTS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR MACHINE TOOLS, e.g. ARRANGEMENTS FOR COPYING OR CONTROLLING ; MACHINE TOOLS IN GENERAL CHARACTERISED BY THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARTICULAR DETAILS OR COMPONENTS; COMBINATIONS OR ASSOCIATIONS OF METAL-WORKING MACHINES, NOT DIRECTED TO A PARTICULAR RESULT) with 56 patents. The company has filed patents in 128 CPC subclasses total.

Is Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.'s patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.'s recent filing velocity is -20% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.'s patents?

Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.'s patents average 6.8 claims each. This is relatively simple claim structure, typical for focused inventions.

How is the Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. 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.

How to use this portfolio

Citizen's 494 grants land it in the top 9% by Innovation Score, but volume alone doesn't tell you where the strength sits.

Read that count against the largest US assignees before treating it as dominance - Citizen ranks #907 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in B23Q - see who else leads that technology area. B23Q leaders
Check what the four-part Innovation Score actually rewards before comparing it to another company. How the score works

Patent counts and the Innovation Score measure patenting activity, not commercial success or the legal strength of any patent. Many patents are filed defensively. Verify the status of an individual patent against official USPTO records.

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

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 byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · 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.