CPC technology class · B41

B41P - Indexing Scheme Relating To Printing

Indexing scheme relating to printing, lining machines, typewriters, and to stamps. 756 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

756
US patents granted: #4/11
in B41: 2.0%
B41 class share: +5%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Indexing Scheme Relating To Printing ranks #485 of 670 CPC technology areas - 756 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 5% over five years.

#485
of 670 CPC technology areas: 756
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Koenig & Bauer
leading assignee (49): +5%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B41P's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B41P recorded 353 grants versus 335 in 2015–2019 (+5% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2015 at 92 grants and bottomed in 2018 at 45 (+104% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Koenig & Bauer AG holds 6.5% of the class ; the top three share 12.8%.

Leaderboard read

B41P concentration, lead at 6.5%

Koenig & Bauer AG leads this historical grant record at 6.5% of B41P - foreign corporation assignees hold 85% of class grants (308 of 362). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 6.5%
Top three share: 12.8%
Lead over #2: 25

Where B41P sits inside B41

Among 11 subclasses in B41 (PRINTING; Lining MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; Stamps), B41P ranks #4 and holds 2.0% 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 B41N 568 B41C 534 B41K 197 B41L 113 B41D 18

Rising assignees active in B41P

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 Ekra Automatisierungssysteme GMBH 6.00x 0 → 6 company-wide · 8 in B41P
#2 Bobst Bielefeld GMBH 5.67x 3 → 17 company-wide · 13 in B41P
#3 Esko-Graphics Imaging GmbH 3.00x 6 → 18 company-wide · 7 in B41P
#4 Cricut, Inc. 2.47x 17 → 42 company-wide · 5 in B41P
#5 Koenig & Bauer AG 1.22x 60 → 73 company-wide · 49 in B41P

B41P grants by year, peak 2015 (92)

US utility-patent grants per year in B41P, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 5% versus 2015–2019.

Koenig & Bauer

49
Heidelberger…

24
Komori

24
Fuji

23
Kba-notasys

17
Bobst Bielefeld

13
Bobst Mex

11
Windmöller & Hölscher…

10
I Mer

10
Goss International…

8
Advaced Vision…

8
Ekra Automatisierungss…

8

What this shows Koenig & Bauer is the most active filer in B41P, holding 49 of the 756 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 B41P
Rank	Company	Patents in B41P
#1	Koenig & Bauer AG	49
#2	Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG	24
#3	Komori Corporation	24
#4	Fuji Corporation	23
#5	Kba-notasys SA	17
#6	Bobst Bielefeld GMBH	13
#7	Bobst MEX SA	11
#8	Windmöller & Hölscher KG	10
#9	I. MER Co., Ltd.	10
#10	Goss International Americas, Inc.	8
#11	Advaced Vision Technology (A.V.T.) Ltd.	8
#12	Ekra Automatisierungssysteme GMBH	8
#13	Esko-Graphics Imaging GmbH	7
#14	Bobst Firenze S.R.L	7
#15	HP Indigo B.V.	6
#16	Stolle Machinery Company, LLC	5
#17	Crown Packaging Technology, Inc.	5
#18	Cricut, Inc.	5
#19	ASM Assembly Systems Singapore PTE. Ltd.	5
#20	B&R Industrial Automation GmbH	4

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B41P 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 B41P assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B41P. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B41P's 756-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B41P (#485 of 670 by volume ; lead share 6.5%) - not the B41 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

C13K 754 F01B 754 F23K 754 C05C 753

Nearest by lead-assignee share

G02C 6.5% A44C 6.5% H04N 6.4% B81B 6.4%

Questions about B41P

Which company holds the most patents in B41P?

Koenig & Bauer AG leads B41P with 49 patents (6.5% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 85% of class grants.

Which B41P assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B41P, Ekra Automatisierungssysteme GMBH shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (6.00x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 6 in 2022–2024) while holding 8 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B41P compare inside parent class B41?

Inside B41 (PRINTING; Lining MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; Stamps), B41P ranks #4 of 11 subclasses by grant volume and holds 2.0% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B41J (26,654 grants).

What to do with this data

B41P in context - here's where to go next.

Koenig & Bauer AG leads B41P with 49 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B41P ranks #485 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 - B41P figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (756 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.