PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B31

B31C - Making Wound Articles

Making wound articles, e.g. wound tubes, of paper, cardboard or material worked in a manner analogous to paper. 88 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

88
US patents granted
B31
Parent CPC class
19
Active assignees
+59%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Making Wound Articles ranks #624 of 670 CPC technology areas - 88 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 59% over five years.

#624
of 670 CPC technology areas
88
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Sonoco Development
leading assignee (7)
+59%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Sonoco Development, Inc. (7 patents)

CPC subclass B31C - MAKING WOUND ARTICLES, e.g. WOUND TUBES, OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER - covers 88 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B31 (MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B31C is shaped by 19 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Sonoco Development, Inc. leads with 7 patents, followed by Abzac Canada Inc. at 5 grants and Berry Plastics Corporation at 4.

Filing activity in B31C is up 59% 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 B31C innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B31C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 59% versus 2015–2019.

468101214 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 10

Who leads B31C?

The 12 most active assignees in MAKING WOUND ARTICLES, e.g. WOUND TUBES, OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Sonoco Development is the most active filer in B31C, holding 7 of the 88 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 B31C
Rank Company Patents in B31C
#1 Sonoco Development, Inc. 7
#2 Abzac Canada Inc. 5
#3 Berry Plastics Corporation 4
#4 Georgia-pacific Consumer Products Lp 4
#5 SCA Tissue France 4
#6 Ranpak Corp. 2
#7 Fabio Perini S.p.a. 2
#8 Chan Li Machinery Co., Ltd. 2
#9 Baselayer Technology, Llc 2
#10 Michael Hörauf Maschinenfabrik Gmbh UND Co. KG 2
#11 Sasib S.p.a. 2
#12 Cascades Canada ULC 1
#13 Futura S.p.a. 1
#14 Körber Technologies Gmbh 1
#15 Hauni Maschinenbau Gmbh 1
#16 Corelex Shin-ei Co., Ltd. 1
#17 Essity Operations France 1
#18 Enterprises International, Inc. 1
#19 Hoffmaster Group, Inc. 1

About This Class

CPC subclass B31C belongs to class B31.

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

19 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 B31C 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 14 B31C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B31C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B31C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B31C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 02468 Patents in B31C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Sonoco DevelopmentAbzac CanadaBerry PlasticsGeorgia-pacific Consu…Sca Tissue FranceRanpakFabio Perini S p AChan Li MachineryBaselayer TechnologyMichael HÖRauf Maschi…Sasib S P ACascades Canada UlcFutura S P AKÖRber
Top 14 B31C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B31C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B31C?
CPC subclass B31C covers MAKING WOUND ARTICLES, e.g. WOUND TUBES, OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER. It belongs to CPC class B31 (MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER), with 88 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B31C?
88 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B31C between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B31C?
Sonoco Development, Inc. leads B31C with 7 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B31C 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., B31) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B31C 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.