CPC technology class · B42

B42B - Permanently Attaching Together Sheets

Permanently attaching together sheets, quires or signatures or permanently attaching objects thereto. 331 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

331
US patents granted: #4/5
in B42: 8.0%
B42 class share: -46%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Permanently Attaching Together Sheets ranks #576 of 670 CPC technology areas - 331 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 46% over five years.

#576
of 670 CPC technology areas: 331
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Canon
leading assignee (60): -46%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B42B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B42B recorded 108 grants versus 200 in 2015–2019 (-46% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2016 at 51 grants and bottomed in 2023 at 8 (+538% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Canon Finetech Nisca Inc. holds 13.6% of the class ; the top three share 20.5%.

Leaderboard read

B42B concentration, lead at 13.6%

Canon Finetech Nisca Inc. leads this historical grant record at 13.6% of B42B - foreign corporation assignees hold 86% of class grants (106 of 123). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 13.6%
Top three share: 20.5%
Lead over #2: 33

Where B42B sits inside B42

Among 5 subclasses in B42 (BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; Special Printed Matter), B42B ranks #4 and holds 8.0% of the parent class's 4,157 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B42D 2,774 B42C 578 B42F 359 B42P 115

Rising assignees active in B42B

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 Max Co., Ltd. 1.54x 84 → 129 company-wide · 11 in B42B
#2 Acco Brands Corporation 0.80x 56 → 45 company-wide · 10 in B42B
#3 Canon Finetech Nisca Inc. 0.43x 117 → 50 company-wide · 45 in B42B
#4 Mueller Martini Holding AG 0.29x 17 → 5 company-wide · 6 in B42B

B42B grants by year, peak 2016 (51)

US utility-patent grants per year in B42B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 46% versus 2015–2019.

Canon Finetech Nisca

45
Nisca

12
Max

11
Acco Brands

10
Canon Finetech

8
Mueller Martini…

6
Horizon International

4
Unibind

3
Information Planning…

3
Krdc

3
Meccanotecnica S p A

3
Ferag

2

What this shows Canon is the most active filer in B42B, holding 60 of the 331 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 B42B
Rank	Company	Patents in B42B
#1	Canon Finetech Nisca Inc.	45
#2	Nisca Corporation	12
#3	Max Co., Ltd.	11
#4	Acco Brands Corporation	10
#5	Canon Finetech Inc.	8
#6	Mueller Martini Holding AG	6
#7	Horizon International Inc.	4
#8	Unibind Limited	3
#9	Information Planning & Management Service Inc.	3
#10	Krdc Ltd.	3
#11	Meccanotecnica S.p.A.	3
#12	Ferag AG	2
#13	Goss International Americas, Inc.	2
#14	Staples THE Office Superstore, LLC	2
#15	Kokuyo Co., Ltd.	1
#16	Citizen Systems Japan Co., Ltd.	1
#17	PAO Shen Enterprises Co., Ltd.	1
#18	Horizon Inc.	1
#19	Bielomatic Leuze GMBH + Co KG	1
#20	Plockmatic International AB	1

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B42B 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 B42B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B42B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Questions about B42B

Which company holds the most patents in B42B?

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha leads B42B with 60 patents (13.6% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 86% of class grants.

Which B42B assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B42B, Max Co., Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (1.54x: 84 grants in 2019–2021 → 129 in 2022–2024) while holding 11 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B42B compare inside parent class B42?

Inside B42 (BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; Special Printed Matter), B42B ranks #4 of 5 subclasses by grant volume and holds 8.0% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B42D (2,774 grants).

What to do with this data

B42B in context - here's where to go next.

Canon Finetech Nisca Inc. leads B42B with 45 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B42B ranks #576 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B42, the largest sibling subclass is B42D with 2,774 grants. Explore B42D

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

Methodology - B42B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (331 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.