CPC technology class · B43

B43K - Implements For Writing Or Drawing

Implements for writing or drawing. 784 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

784
US patents granted: #1/3
in B43: 59.9%
B43 class share: +9%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Implements For Writing Or Drawing ranks #483 of 670 CPC technology areas - 784 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 9% over five years.

#483
of 670 CPC technology areas: 784
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Mitsubishi Pencil
leading assignee (71): +9%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B43K's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B43K recorded 358 grants versus 327 in 2015–2019 (+9% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2024 at 88 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 58 (+52% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Mitsubishi Pencil Company, Limited holds 9.1% of the class ; the top three share 21.9%.

Leaderboard read

B43K concentration, lead at 9.1%

Mitsubishi Pencil Company, Limited leads this historical grant record at 9.1% of B43K - foreign corporation assignees hold 78% of class grants (400 of 513). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 9.1%
Top three share: 21.9%
Lead over #2: 13

Where B43K sits inside B43

Among 3 subclasses in B43 (Writing OR Drawing IMPLEMENTS; Bureau Accessories), B43K ranks #1 and holds 59.9% of the parent class's 1,309 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B43L 358 B43M 167

Rising assignees active in B43K

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 BIC Violex Single Member S.A. 65x 0 → 65 company-wide · 17 in B43K
#2 SOCIÉTÉ BIC 12x 5 → 61 company-wide · 58 in B43K
#3 Mitsubishi Pencil Company, Limited 1.58x 33 → 52 company-wide · 71 in B43K
#4 Micro Co., Ltd. 1.50x 2 → 3 company-wide · 5 in B43K
#5 Dong-a Pencil Co., Ltd. 1.25x 4 → 5 company-wide · 7 in B43K

B43K grants by year, peak 2024 (88)

US utility-patent grants per year in B43K, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 9% versus 2015–2019.

Mitsubishi Pencil

71
SociÉTÉ Bic

58
Societe Bic

43
Pilot

43
Crayola

31
Wacom

22
Sanford

22
Bic Violex Single…

17
Kotobuki &

14
Tokiwa

12
The Pilot Ink

12
Staedtler Mars & Kg

9

What this shows Mitsubishi Pencil is the most active filer in B43K, holding 71 of the 784 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 B43K
Rank	Company	Patents in B43K
#1	Mitsubishi Pencil Company, Limited	71
#2	SOCIÉTÉ BIC	58
#3	Societe BIC	43
#4	Kabushiki Kaisha Pilot Corporation	43
#5	Crayola LLC	31
#6	Wacom Co., Ltd.	22
#7	Sanford L.P.	22
#8	BIC Violex Single Member S.A.	17
#9	Kotobuki & Co., Ltd.	14
#10	Tokiwa Corporation	12
#11	THE Pilot INK Company, Limited	12
#12	Staedtler Mars GMBH & Co. KG	9
#13	Faber-castell AG	9
#14	Zebra Co., Ltd.	9
#15	Kuretake Co., Ltd.	8
#16	Dong-a Pencil Co., Ltd.	7
#17	Montblanc-Simplo GmbH	5
#18	SDI Corporation	5
#19	Schwan-stabilo Cosmetic GMBH & Co. KG	5
#20	Flocon, Inc.	5

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B43K 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 B43K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B43K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B43K's 784-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B43K (#483 of 670 by volume ; lead share 9.1%) - not the B43 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

F16P 783 B61F 797 B41P 756 F02G 812

Nearest by lead-assignee share

E06C 9.0% B61C 9.1% G07F 9.0% D07B 9.1%

Questions about B43K

Which company holds the most patents in B43K?

Mitsubishi Pencil Company, Limited leads B43K with 71 patents (9.1% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 78% of class grants.

Which B43K assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B43K, BIC Violex Single Member S.A. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (65x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 65 in 2022–2024) while holding 17 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B43K compare inside parent class B43?

Inside B43 (Writing OR Drawing IMPLEMENTS; Bureau Accessories), B43K ranks #1 of 3 subclasses by grant volume and holds 59.9% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B43L (358 grants).

What to do with this data

B43K in context - here's where to go next.

Mitsubishi Pencil Company, Limited leads B43K with 71 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B43K ranks #483 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B43, the largest sibling subclass is B43L with 358 grants. Explore B43L

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

Methodology - B43K figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (784 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.