CPC technology class · F16

F16G - Belts

Belts, cables, or ropes, predominantly used for driving purposes; chains; fittings predominantly used therefor. 1,830 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

1,830
US patents granted: #10/14
in F16: 1.3%
F16 class share: +8%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Belts ranks #375 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,830 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 8% over five years.

#375
of 670 CPC technology areas: 1,830
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Mitsuboshi Belting
leading assignee (69): +8%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How F16G's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, F16G recorded 869 grants versus 805 in 2015–2019 (+8% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 193 grants and bottomed in 2023 at 141 (+37% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Igus GMBH holds 3.8% of the class ; the top three share 11.3%.

Leaderboard read

F16G concentration, lead at 3.8%

Igus GMBH leads this historical grant record at 3.8% of F16G - foreign corporation assignees hold 66% of class grants (677 of 1,033). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 3.8%
Top three share: 11.3%
Lead over #2: 0

Where F16G sits inside F16

Among 14 subclasses in F16 (Engineering Elements AND UNITS; General Measures FOR Producing AND Maintaining Effective Functioning OF Machines OR INSTALLATIONS; Thermal Insulation IN General), F16G ranks #10 and holds 1.3% of the parent class's 137,714 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

F16H 27,860 F16K 17,624 F16L 16,791 F16D 15,330 F16B 14,787 F16C 14,627 F16F 10,113 F16M 8,559

Rising assignees active in F16G

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 NEW Motion Labs Ltd. 7.00x 0 → 7 company-wide · 7 in F16G
#2 Tsubaki Kabelschlepp GmbH 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 11 in F16G
#3 Iwis antriebssysteme GmbH & Co. KG 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 6 in F16G
#4 Serapid France 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 6 in F16G
#5 FP Business Invest 5.00x 0 → 5 company-wide · 5 in F16G

F16G grants by year, peak 2020 (193)

US utility-patent grants per year in F16G, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 8% versus 2015–2019.

Igus

69
Mitsuboshi Belting

69
Bando Chemical…

68
Tsubakimoto Chain

67
Gates

53
Contitech Antriebssyst…

28
Shimano

25
Flexible Steel Lacing

25
Otis Elevator

22
Bright

22
Boa Technology

16
Gripple

15

What this shows Mitsuboshi Belting is the most active filer in F16G, holding 69 of the 1,830 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 F16G
Rank	Company	Patents in F16G
#1	Igus GMBH	69
#2	Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd.	69
#3	Bando Chemical Industries, Ltd.	68
#4	Tsubakimoto Chain Co.	67
#5	Gates Corporation	53
#6	ContiTech Antriebssysteme GmbH	28
#7	Shimano Inc.	25
#8	Flexible Steel Lacing Company	25
#9	Otis Elevator Company	22
#10	Bright Technologies, LLC	22
#11	Boa Technology Inc.	16
#12	Gripple Limited	15
#13	Sram Deutschland GmbH	14
#14	Kone Corporation	12
#15	Iwis Motorsysteme GMBH & Co. KG	12
#16	Tsubaki Kabelschlepp GmbH	11
#17	Duraflex Hong Kong Limited	10
#18	RUD Ketten Rieger & Dietz GMBH U. Co. KG	10
#19	Contitech Transportbandsysteme GmBH	9
#20	Dayco Europe S.R.L.	9

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading F16G 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 F16G assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F16G. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near F16G's 1,830-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for F16G (#375 of 670 by volume ; lead share 3.8%) - not the F16 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

E02B 1,837 H01T 1,823 A23P 1,818 B21J 1,805

Nearest by lead-assignee share

Y02P 3.8% G05F 3.7% B60B 3.7% H01H 3.7%

Questions about F16G

Which company holds the most patents in F16G?

Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd. leads F16G with 69 patents (3.8% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 66% of class grants.

Which F16G assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in F16G, NEW Motion Labs Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (7.00x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 7 in 2022–2024) while holding 7 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does F16G compare inside parent class F16?

Inside F16 (Engineering Elements AND UNITS; General Measures FOR Producing AND Maintaining Effective Functioning OF Machines OR INSTALLATIONS; Thermal Insulation IN General), F16G ranks #10 of 14 subclasses by grant volume and holds 1.3% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is F16H (27,860 grants).

What to do with this data

F16G in context - here's where to go next.

Igus GMBH leads F16G with 69 grants in this class. See full portfolio
F16G ranks #375 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class F16, the largest sibling subclass is F16H with 27,860 grants. Explore F16H

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

Methodology - F16G figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,830 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.