CPC technology class · B43
B43L — Articles FOR Writing OR Drawing UPON
Articles for writing or drawing upon; ; writing or drawing aids;; accessories for writing or drawing. 358 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.
- 358
- US patents granted
- B43
- Parent CPC class
- 20
- Active assignees
- +36%
- 5-yr velocity
CPC subclass B43L — ARTICLES FOR WRITING OR DRAWING UPON; ; WRITING OR DRAWING AIDS;; ACCESSORIES FOR WRITING OR DRAWING — covers 358 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records. This subclass sits within the broader CPC class B43 (WRITING OR DRAWING IMPLEMENTS; BUREAU ACCESSORIES), one of roughly 250 top-level technology categories in the Cooperative Patent Classification system jointly maintained by the USPTO and the European Patent Office. At the subclass level, four-character codes like B43L give the most practical resolution for tracking a specific technology domain without losing sight of adjacent filings. Every grant here has been classified by a USPTO examiner based on the technical disclosure in the patent specification.
The competitive landscape in B43L is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. SOCIÉTÉ BIC leads with 11 patents, followed by SOCIÉTÉ BIC at 91 grants and Sanford L.P. at 131. Concentration at the top of the leaderboard indicates whether this technology area is dominated by a handful of incumbents or fragmented across many filers — a useful signal for investors evaluating competitive moats and for product teams mapping freedom-to-operate risk.
Filing trajectory matters as much as static counts. The yearly series on this page plots grants from 2015 through 2025, highlighting whether innovation in B43L is accelerating, plateauing, or cooling. Technology areas with rising post-2020 activity often reflect emerging markets or new platform shifts, while declining filings can signal mature domains where incremental improvement has slowed. Researchers, licensing professionals, and competitive-intelligence teams use these patterns — together with the top-assignee distribution — to decide where to invest, where to license, and where to avoid entanglement. All counts on this page come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.
Is B43L innovation accelerating?
US utility-patent grants per year in B43L, 2015–2025 — recent five years are up 36% versus 2015–2019.
Who leads B43L?
The 12 most active assignees in ARTICLES FOR WRITING OR DRAWING UPON; ; WRITING OR DRAWING AIDS;; ACCESSORIES FOR WRITING OR DRAWING — wider bars mean more grants
- Crayola 103
Crayola LLC
103 patents
- SociÉTÉ Bic 91
SOCIÉTÉ BIC
91 patents
- Sanford
Sanford L.P.
131 patents
- Rocket Innovations 17
Rocket Innovations, Inc.
17 patents
- Comsero 13
Comsero, Inc.
13 patents
- Mitsubishi Pencil
MITSUBISHI PENCIL COMPANY, LIMITED
160 patents
- Societe Bic
SOCIETE BIC
167 patents
- Pilot
KABUSHIKI KAISHA PILOT CORPORATION
126 patents
- Sdi 20
SDI CORPORATION
20 patents
- Apex Brands
Apex Brands, Inc.
259 patents
- Chameleon Holding 9
CHAMELEON HOLDING LTD
9 patents
- Amazing Magnets 6
Amazing Magnets, LLC
6 patents
What this shows SociÉTÉ Bic is the most active filer in B43L, holding 11 of the 358 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.
View data table
| Rank | Company | Patents in B43L |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Crayola LLC | 103 |
| #2 | SOCIÉTÉ BIC | 91 |
| #3 | Sanford L.P. | 131 |
| #4 | Rocket Innovations, Inc. | 17 |
| #5 | Comsero, Inc. | 13 |
| #6 | MITSUBISHI PENCIL COMPANY, LIMITED | 160 |
| #7 | SOCIETE BIC | 167 |
| #8 | KABUSHIKI KAISHA PILOT CORPORATION | 126 |
| #9 | SDI CORPORATION | 20 |
| #10 | Apex Brands, Inc. | 259 |
| #11 | CHAMELEON HOLDING LTD | 9 |
| #12 | Amazing Magnets, LLC | 6 |
| #13 | Rockler Companies, Inc. | 36 |
| #14 | Kent Displays, Inc. | 31 |
| #15 | TOMBOW PENCIL CO., LTD. | 19 |
| #16 | Hardwire, LLC | 11 |
| #17 | Woodpeckers, LLC | 117 |
| #18 | STAEDTLER MARS GMBH & CO. KG | 26 |
| #19 | THE PILOT INK COMPANY, LIMITED | 24 |
| #20 | Exceptional IP Holdings, LLC | 18 |
About This Class
CPC subclass B43L belongs to class B43.
358 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CPC class B43L?
How many patents have been filed in B43L?
Which company holds the most patents in B43L?
How is patent data for B43L collected?
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
Learn More
Explore the patent dataset
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.