PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B41

B41J - Typewriters

Typewriters; selective printing mechanisms, i.e. mechanisms printing otherwise than from a forme; correction of typographical errors. 26,654 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

26,654
US patents granted
B41
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
-7%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Typewriters ranks #78 of 670 CPC technology areas - 26,654 US patents granted since 2015, with filing down 7% over five years.

#78
of 670 CPC technology areas
26,654
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Seiko Epson
leading assignee (5,146)
-7%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (5,146 patents)

CPC subclass B41J - TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS - covers 26,654 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B41 (PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B41J is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Seiko Epson Corporation leads with 5,146 patents, followed by Canon Kabushiki Kaisha at 3,133 grants and Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha at 2,693.

Filing activity in B41J is down 7% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a relatively steady filing pace. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is B41J innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B41J, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 7% versus 2015–2019.

1,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,500 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 1,442

Who leads B41J?

The 12 most active assignees in TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Seiko Epson is the most active filer in B41J, holding 5,146 of the 26,654 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 B41J
Rank Company Patents in B41J
#1 Seiko Epson Corporation 5,146
#2 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha 3,133
#3 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha 2,693
#4 Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p. 2,289
#5 Ricoh Company, Ltd. 1,612
#6 Xerox Corporation 781
#7 Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha 615
#8 Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. 553
#9 Fujifilm Corporation 364
#10 Konica Minolta, Inc. 304
#11 Memjet Technology Limited 252
#12 Mimaki Engineering Co., Ltd. 240
#13 Screen Holdings Co., Ltd. 191
#14 Casio Computer Co., Ltd. 178
#15 RISO Kagaku Corporation 176
#16 Funai Electric Co., Ltd. 174
#17 Kyocera Corporation 146
#18 Eastman Kodak Company 142
#19 Kateeva, Inc. 129
#20 FUJI Xerox Co., Ltd. 124

About This Class

CPC subclass B41J belongs to class B41.

26,654 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.

20 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 B41J 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 B41J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B41J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B41J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B41J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 81012141618 -20000200040006000 Patents in B41J Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Seiko EpsonCanonBrother KogyoHewlett-packard Devel…RicohXeroxToshiba TecKyocera Document Solu…FujifilmKonica MinoltaMemjet TechnologyMimaki EngineeringScreen HoldingsCasio Computer
Top 14 B41J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B41J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B41J?
CPC subclass B41J covers TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. It belongs to CPC class B41 (PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS), with 26,654 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B41J?
26,654 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B41J between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B41J?
Seiko Epson Corporation leads B41J with 5,146 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B41J 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., B41) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B41J 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.