CPC technology class · G04
G04C — Electromechanical Clocks OR Watches
Electromechanical clocks or watches. 1,040 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.
- 1,040
- US patents granted
- G04
- Parent CPC class
- 20
- Active assignees
- +12%
- 5-yr velocity
CPC subclass G04C — ELECTROMECHANICAL CLOCKS OR WATCHES — covers 1,040 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records. This subclass sits within the broader CPC class G04 (HOROLOGY), 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 G04C 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 G04C is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION leads with 147 patents, followed by CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD. at 1,949 grants and ETA SA MANUFACTURE HORLOGÈRE SUISSE at 302. 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 G04C 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 G04C innovation accelerating?
US utility-patent grants per year in G04C, 2015–2025 — recent five years are up 12% versus 2015–2019.
Who leads G04C?
The 12 most active assignees in ELECTROMECHANICAL CLOCKS OR WATCHES — wider bars mean more grants
- The Swatch Group Rese… 482
The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
482 patents
- Casio Computer
CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
1,949 patents
- Eta Manufacture Horlo… 302
ETA SA MANUFACTURE HORLOGÈRE SUISSE
302 patents
- Seiko Instruments 352
Seiko Instruments Inc.
352 patents
- Citizen Watch 494
CITIZEN WATCH CO., LTD.
494 patents
- Montres Breguet 183
Montres Breguet S.A.
183 patents
- Garmin Switzerland 270
Garmin Switzerland GmbH
270 patents
- Timex Group Usa 23
Timex Group USA, Inc.
23 patents
- Nivarox-far 161
Nivarox-FAR S.A.
161 patents
- J J Mackay Canada 30
J.J. MACKAY CANADA LIMITED
30 patents
- Sii Crystal Technology 26
SII CRYSTAL TECHNOLOGY INC.
26 patents
- Harry Winston
Harry Winston SA
876 patents
What this shows Seiko Epson is the most active filer in G04C, holding 147 of the 1,040 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 G04C |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd | 482 |
| #2 | CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD. | 1,949 |
| #3 | ETA SA MANUFACTURE HORLOGÈRE SUISSE | 302 |
| #4 | Seiko Instruments Inc. | 352 |
| #5 | CITIZEN WATCH CO., LTD. | 494 |
| #6 | Montres Breguet S.A. | 183 |
| #7 | Garmin Switzerland GmbH | 270 |
| #8 | Timex Group USA, Inc. | 23 |
| #9 | Nivarox-FAR S.A. | 161 |
| #10 | J.J. MACKAY CANADA LIMITED | 30 |
| #11 | SII CRYSTAL TECHNOLOGY INC. | 26 |
| #12 | Harry Winston SA | 876 |
| #13 | EM Microelectronic-Marin SA | 117 |
| #14 | RICHEMONT INTERNATIONAL SA | 248 |
| #15 | RFMicron, Inc. | 69 |
| #16 | Vision Works IP Corporation | 46 |
| #17 | Reliance Controls Corporation | 32 |
| #18 | Pictiva Displays International Limited | 25 |
| #19 | PRECIFLEX SA | 15 |
| #20 | PRINCO MIDDLE EAST FZE | 9 |
About This Class
CPC subclass G04C belongs to class G04.
1,040 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 G04C?
How many patents have been filed in G04C?
Which company holds the most patents in G04C?
How is patent data for G04C 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.