CPC technology class · B41

B41N - Printing Plates Or Foils

Printing plates or foils ; materials for surfaces used in printing machines for printing, inking, damping, or the like; preparing such surfaces for use and conserving them. 568 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

568
US patents granted: #5/11
in B41: 1.5%
B41 class share: -30%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Printing Plates Or Foils ranks #525 of 670 CPC technology areas - 568 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 30% over five years.

#525
of 670 CPC technology areas: 568
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Fujifilm
leading assignee (57): -30%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B41N's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B41N recorded 216 grants versus 310 in 2015–2019 (-30% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2015 at 75 grants and bottomed in 2021 at 38 (+97% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Landa Corporation Ltd. holds 2.8% of the class ; the top three share 6.2%.

Leaderboard read

B41N concentration, lead at 2.8%

Landa Corporation Ltd. leads this historical grant record at 2.8% of B41N - foreign corporation assignees hold 76% of class grants (125 of 164). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 2.8%
Top three share: 6.2%
Lead over #2: 6

Where B41N sits inside B41

Among 11 subclasses in B41 (PRINTING; Lining MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; Stamps), B41N ranks #5 and holds 1.5% of the parent class's 38,209 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B41J 26,654 B41M 6,377 B41F 2,980 B41P 756 B41C 534 B41K 197 B41L 113 B41D 18

Rising assignees active in B41N

Company-wide grant multiples (2022–2024 vs 2019–2021) among assignees with ≥5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide; class patent counts are subclass-specific.

#1 Agfa Offset BV 10x 0 → 10 company-wide · 5 in B41N
#2 Xsys Prepress N.V. 7.00x 0 → 7 company-wide · 5 in B41N
#3 Esko-Graphics Imaging GmbH 3.00x 6 → 18 company-wide · 9 in B41N
#4 Ball Corporation 1.38x 29 → 40 company-wide · 5 in B41N
#5 Landa Corporation Ltd. 1.29x 44 → 57 company-wide · 16 in B41N

B41N grants by year, peak 2015 (75)

US utility-patent grants per year in B41N, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 30% versus 2015–2019.

Landa

16
tesa Se

10
Esko-graphics Imaging

9
Flint Group Germany

8
Shuhou

8
Macdermid Graphics…

7
Day International

7
Think Laboratory

6
Presstek

6
Ball

5
Xsys Prepress

5
Agfa Offset Bv

5

What this shows Fujifilm is the most active filer in B41N, holding 57 of the 568 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

View data table

Top patent holders in CPC subclass B41N
Rank	Company	Patents in B41N
#1	Landa Corporation Ltd.	16
#2	tesa SE	10
#3	Esko-Graphics Imaging GmbH	9
#4	Flint Group Germany GmbH	8
#5	Shuhou Co., Ltd.	8
#6	MacDermid Graphics Solutions, LLC	7
#7	Day International, Inc.	7
#8	Think Laboratory Co., Ltd.	6
#9	Presstek, LLC.	6
#10	Ball Corporation	5
#11	Xsys Prepress N.V.	5
#12	Agfa Offset BV	5
#13	Paramount International Services, Ltd.	5
#14	Kba-notasys SA	4
#15	Hydro Aluminium Deutschland GmbH	4
#16	Toyobo MC Corporation	3
#17	I. MER Co., Ltd.	3
#18	Esko Software BV	3
#19	NBC Meshtec Inc.	3
#20	Ball Beverage CAN South America S.A.	3

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B41N 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 B41N assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B41N. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B41N's 568-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B41N (#525 of 670 by volume ; lead share 10.0%) - not the B41 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

F23M 568 B64B 560 B60M 559 B63J 559

Nearest by lead-assignee share

F23K 10.1% F01L 10.0% A41D 9.9% B31D 9.9%

Questions about B41N

Which company holds the most patents in B41N?

Fujifilm Corporation leads B41N with 57 patents (2.8% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 76% of class grants.

Which B41N assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B41N, Agfa Offset BV shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (10x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 10 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B41N compare inside parent class B41?

Inside B41 (PRINTING; Lining MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; Stamps), B41N ranks #5 of 11 subclasses by grant volume and holds 1.5% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B41J (26,654 grants).

What to do with this data

B41N in context - here's where to go next.

Landa Corporation Ltd. leads B41N with 16 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B41N ranks #525 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B41, the largest sibling subclass is B41J with 26,654 grants. Explore B41J

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through 2026-05-15; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Methodology - B41N figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (568 grants in the tracked window).

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.