PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B41

B41M - Printing

Printing, duplicating, marking, or copying processes; colour printing,. 6,377 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

6,377
US patents granted
B41
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+11%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Printing ranks #226 of 670 CPC technology areas - 6,377 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 11% over five years.

#226
of 670 CPC technology areas
6,377
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Seiko Epson
leading assignee (300)
+11%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (300 patents)

CPC subclass B41M - PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING, - covers 6,377 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 B41M is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Seiko Epson Corporation leads with 300 patents, followed by Ricoh Company, Ltd. at 260 grants and Xerox Corporation at 230.

Filing activity in B41M is up 11% 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 B41M innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B41M, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 11% versus 2015–2019.

300400500600700800 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 352

Who leads B41M?

The 12 most active assignees in PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING, - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Seiko Epson is the most active filer in B41M, holding 300 of the 6,377 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 B41M
Rank Company Patents in B41M
#1 Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p. 273
#2 Ricoh Company, Ltd. 260
#3 Xerox Corporation 230
#4 Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha 171
#5 Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. 116
#6 Agfa Nv 82
#7 Mimaki Engineering Co., Ltd. 78
#8 Sicpa Holding Sa 69
#9 Sun Chemical Corporation 60
#10 KAO Corporation 54
#11 Eastman Kodak Company 50
#12 Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. 39
#13 Agfa-gevaert Nv 38
#14 Landa Corporation Ltd. 37
#15 Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated 36
#16 Viavi Solutions Inc. 33
#17 Ceraloc Innovation AB 32
#18 Electronics FOR Imaging, Inc. 30
#19 Kateeva, Inc. 28
#20 DE LA RUE International Limited 28

About This Class

CPC subclass B41M belongs to class B41.

6,377 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 B41M 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 B41M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B41M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B41M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B41M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 0100200300 Patents in B41M Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Hewlett-packard Devel…RicohXeroxToshiba TecDai Nippon PrintingAgfaMimaki EngineeringSicpa HoldingSun ChemicalKaoEastman KodakToppan PrintingAgfa-gevaertLanda
Top 14 B41M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B41M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B41M?
CPC subclass B41M covers PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING,. It belongs to CPC class B41 (PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS), with 6,377 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B41M?
6,377 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B41M between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B41M?
Seiko Epson Corporation leads B41M with 300 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B41M 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 B41M 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.