CPC technology class · G06

G06K - Graphical Data Reading

Graphical data reading ; presentation of data; record carriers; handling record carriers. 27,107 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

27,107
US patents granted: #6/12
in G06: 2.5%
G06 class share: -5%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Graphical Data Reading ranks #74 of 670 CPC technology areas - 27,107 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 5% over five years.

#74
of 670 CPC technology areas: 27,107
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Canon
leading assignee (1,345): -5%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How G06K's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, G06K recorded 12,189 grants versus 12,771 in 2015–2019 (-5% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 2,691 grants and bottomed in 2022 at 2,368 (+14% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Canon Kabushiki Kaisha holds 5.0% of the class ; the top three share 9.3%.

Leaderboard read

G06K concentration, lead at 5.0%

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha leads this historical grant record at 5.0% of G06K - us corporation assignees hold 52% of class grants (9,376 of 18,086). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 5.0%
Top three share: 9.3%
Lead over #2: 634

Where G06K sits inside G06

Among 12 subclasses in G06 (Computing OR CALCULATING; Counting), G06K ranks #6 and holds 2.5% of the parent class's 1,068,680 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

G06F 580,551 G06Q 144,635 G06T 131,672 G06V 95,291 G06N 88,089 G06G 675 G06M 332 G06E 229

Rising assignees active in G06K

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 Block, Inc. 345x 1 → 345 company-wide · 35 in G06K
#2 Berkshire Grey Operating Company, Inc. 124x 0 → 124 company-wide · 29 in G06K
#3 NCR Voyix Corporation 82x 0 → 82 company-wide · 12 in G06K
#4 Fingerprint Cards Anacatum IP AB 70x 1 → 70 company-wide · 10 in G06K
#5 Avalara, Inc. 60x 0 → 60 company-wide · 5 in G06K

G06K grants by year, peak 2019 (2,691)

US utility-patent grants per year in G06K, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 5% versus 2015–2019.

Canon

1,345
Capital One Services

711
Hand Held Products

459
Ricoh

443
Brother Kogyo

416
Seiko Epson

405
Toshiba Tec

403
Kyocera Document…

388
Hewlett-packard…

381
Zebra

363
Murata Manufacturing

270
Nxp B V

207

What this shows Canon is the most active filer in G06K, holding 1,345 of the 27,107 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 G06K
Rank	Company	Patents in G06K
#1	Canon Kabushiki Kaisha	1,345
#2	Capital ONE Services, LLC	711
#3	Hand Held Products, Inc.	459
#4	Ricoh Company, Ltd.	443
#5	Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha	416
#6	Seiko Epson Corporation	405
#7	Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha	403
#8	Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.	388
#9	Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.P.	381
#10	Zebra Technologies Corporation	363
#11	Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.	270
#12	NXP B.V.	207
#13	Konica Minolta, Inc.	204
#14	Xerox Corporation	199
#15	Symbol Technologies, LLC	198
#16	Walmart Apollo, LLC	196
#17	Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.	186
#18	Avery Dennison Retail Information Services LLC	180
#19	Impinj, Inc.	164
#20	THE Code Corporation	128

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading G06K 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 G06K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in G06K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near G06K's 27,107-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for G06K (#74 of 670 by volume ; lead share 5.0%) - not the G06 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

G08G 27,080 H02K 26,848 C09D 27,394 G03G 26,691

Nearest by lead-assignee share

D04C 5.0% H05H 4.9% A22C 5.0% E21D 5.0%

Questions about G06K

Which company holds the most patents in G06K?

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha leads G06K with 1,345 patents (5.0% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 52% of class grants.

Which G06K assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in G06K, Block, Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (345x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 345 in 2022–2024) while holding 35 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does G06K compare inside parent class G06?

Inside G06 (Computing OR CALCULATING; Counting), G06K ranks #6 of 12 subclasses by grant volume and holds 2.5% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is G06F (580,551 grants).

What to do with this data

G06K in context - here's where to go next.

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha leads G06K with 1,345 grants in this class. See full portfolio
G06K ranks #74 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class G06, the largest sibling subclass is G06F with 580,551 grants. Explore G06F

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

Methodology - G06K figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (27,107 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.