PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B21

B21G - Making Needles

Making needles, pins or nails of metal. 86 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

86
US patents granted
B21
Parent CPC class
9
Active assignees
+44%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Making Needles ranks #626 of 670 CPC technology areas - 86 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 44% over five years.

#626
of 670 CPC technology areas
86
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Ethicon
leading assignee (11)
+44%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Ethicon, Inc. (11 patents)

CPC subclass B21G - MAKING NEEDLES, PINS OR NAILS OF METAL - covers 86 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B21 (MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B21G is shaped by 9 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Ethicon, Inc. leads with 11 patents, followed by Enkotec A/s at 4 grants and Groz-beckert KG at 2.

Filing activity in B21G is up 44% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a sharp acceleration suggesting an emerging or fast-moving technology area. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is B21G innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B21G, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 44% versus 2015–2019.

051015 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 6

Who leads B21G?

The 12 most active assignees in MAKING NEEDLES, PINS OR NAILS OF METAL - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Ethicon is the most active filer in B21G, holding 11 of the 86 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

Source USPTO PatentsView, granted utility patents As of 2015–2025 grant years
View data table
Top patent holders in CPC subclass B21G
Rank Company Patents in B21G
#1 DL Technology, Llc. 6
#2 Enkotec A/s 4
#3 Groz-beckert KG 2
#4 MANI, Inc. 2
#5 Tung Hing Plastic Manufactory Limited 2
#6 Cardica, Inc. 1
#7 Stanley Fastening Systems, L.p. 1
#8 B&L Biotech, Inc. 1
#9 Suturion AB 1

About This Class

CPC subclass B21G belongs to class B21.

86 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.

9 companies actively patent in this space.

Classification System

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system used by the USPTO and EPO.

← All Technology Classes Technology Rankings →

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B21G assignee, placed by how many patents it holds in this class (horizontal) against its company-wide average claims per patent (vertical) - a read on whether the class is led by broad-but-shallow filers or focused deep-claim players.

Top 9 B21G assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B21G. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 9 B21G assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B21G. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 9 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 05101520 02468 Patents in B21G Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Dl TechnologyEnkotec A/SGroz-beckert KgManiTung Hing Plastic Man…CardicaStanley Fastening Sys…B&L BiotechSuturion Ab
Top 9 B21G assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B21G. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B21G?
CPC subclass B21G covers MAKING NEEDLES, PINS OR NAILS OF METAL. It belongs to CPC class B21 (MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL), with 86 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B21G?
86 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B21G between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B21G?
Ethicon, Inc. leads B21G with 11 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B21G collected?
Patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It covers all US granted utility patents and assigns CPC codes based on the technology described in each patent.
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
A CPC class (e.g., B21) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B21G provide finer granularity within that category. PlainPatent organizes data at the subclass level (4-character codes) for the most useful view of technology domains.

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

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

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.