CPC technology class · B65

B65C - Labelling Or Tagging Machines

Labelling or tagging machines, apparatus, or processes. 1,055 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

1,055
US patents granted: #6/6
in B65: 1.4%
B65 class share: -3%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Labelling Or Tagging Machines ranks #451 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,055 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 3% over five years.

#451
of 670 CPC technology areas: 1,055
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Krones
leading assignee (56): -3%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B65C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B65C recorded 476 grants versus 490 in 2015–2019 (-3% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2018 at 125 grants and bottomed in 2023 at 73 (+71% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Krones AG holds 5.3% of the class ; the top three share 12.4%.

Leaderboard read

B65C concentration, lead at 5.3%

Krones AG leads this historical grant record at 5.3% of B65C - foreign corporation assignees hold 56% of class grants (358 of 637). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 5.3%
Top three share: 12.4%
Lead over #2: 10

Where B65C sits inside B65

Among 6 subclasses in B65 (CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; Handling Thin OR Filamentary Material), B65C ranks #6 and holds 1.4% of the parent class's 73,904 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B65D 29,449 B65G 17,344 B65H 13,990 B65B 10,637 B65F 1,429

Rising assignees active in B65C

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 Sealed Air Corporation (US) 1.64x 22 → 36 company-wide · 5 in B65C
#2 P.E. Labellers S.P.A. 1.50x 4 → 6 company-wide · 21 in B65C
#3 Actega North America Technologies, Inc. 1.50x 2 → 3 company-wide · 6 in B65C
#4 North Atlantic Imports, LLC 1.35x 20 → 27 company-wide · 5 in B65C
#5 Brady Worldwide, Inc. 1.32x 22 → 29 company-wide · 7 in B65C

B65C grants by year, peak 2018 (125)

US utility-patent grants per year in B65C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 3% versus 2015–2019.

Krones

56
Khs

46
Avery Dennison

29
Fuji Seal Internationa…

27
Encore Wire

25
Sato

22
P E Labellers S P A

21
Sidel S P A Con Socio…

18
Avery Dennison Retail…

16
Espera-werke

16
Sidel Participations S

13
Bizerba Se & Kg

12

What this shows Krones is the most active filer in B65C, holding 56 of the 1,055 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 B65C
Rank	Company	Patents in B65C
#1	Krones AG	56
#2	KHS GmbH	46
#3	Avery Dennison Corporation	29
#4	Fuji Seal International, Inc.	27
#5	Encore Wire Corporation	25
#6	Sato Corporation	22
#7	P.E. Labellers S.P.A.	21
#8	Sidel S.P.A. CON Socio Unico	18
#9	Avery Dennison Retail Information Services LLC	16
#10	Espera-Werke GmbH	16
#11	Sidel Participations S.A.S	13
#12	Bizerba SE & Co. KG	12
#13	Videojet Technologies Inc.	11
#14	Oren Technologies, LLC	9
#15	Multivac Marking & Inspection GmbH & Co. KG	9
#16	Chicago Tag & Label, Inc.	8
#17	Makro Labelling S.R.L.	8
#18	Ishida Co., Ltd.	7
#19	Brady Worldwide, Inc.	7
#20	Bedford Industries, Inc.	7

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B65C 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 B65C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B65C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B65C's 1,055-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B65C (#451 of 670 by volume ; lead share 5.3%) - not the B65 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

A23D 1,053 A43D 1,044 B31F 1,044 B25G 1,041

Nearest by lead-assignee share

C01C 5.3% A01M 5.3% B61K 5.3% C22C 5.3%

Questions about B65C

Which company holds the most patents in B65C?

Krones AG leads B65C with 56 patents (5.3% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 56% of class grants.

Which B65C assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B65C, Sealed Air Corporation (US) shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (1.64x: 22 grants in 2019–2021 → 36 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B65C compare inside parent class B65?

Inside B65 (CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; Handling Thin OR Filamentary Material), B65C ranks #6 of 6 subclasses by grant volume and holds 1.4% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B65D (29,449 grants).

What to do with this data

B65C in context - here's where to go next.

Krones AG leads B65C with 56 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B65C ranks #451 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B65, the largest sibling subclass is B65D with 29,449 grants. Explore B65D

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

Methodology - B65C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,055 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.