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CPC technology class · G11

G11B - Information Storage Based ON Relative Movement Between Re…

Information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer. 21,500 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

21,500
US patents granted
G11
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
-32%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Information Storage Based ON Relative Movement Between Re… ranks #96 of 670 CPC technology areas - 21,500 US patents granted since 2015, with filing down 32% over five years.

#96
of 670 CPC technology areas
21,500
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Seagate Technology
leading assignee (1,922)
-32%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Seagate Technology Llc (1,922 patents)

CPC subclass G11B - INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER - covers 21,500 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class G11 (INFORMATION STORAGE). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in G11B is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Seagate Technology Llc leads with 1,922 patents, followed by International Business Machines Corporation at 1,279 grants and Western Digital Technologies, Inc. at 1,271.

Filing activity in G11B is down 32% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a notable slowdown that may signal a maturing field. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is G11B innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in G11B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 32% versus 2015–2019.

01,0002,0003,0004,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 901

Who leads G11B?

The 12 most active assignees in INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Seagate Technology is the most active filer in G11B, holding 1,922 of the 21,500 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

Source USPTO PatentsView, granted utility patents As of 2015–2025 grant years
View data table
Top patent holders in CPC subclass G11B
Rank Company Patents in G11B
#1 Seagate Technology Llc 1,922
#2 International Business Machines Corporation 1,279
#3 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. 1,271
#4 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba 850
#5 SONY Group Corporation 728
#6 Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation 487
#7 Fujifilm Corporation 481
#8 HGST Netherlands, B.v. 373
#9 Headway Technologies, Inc. 277
#10 Sonos, Inc. 235
#11 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc 234
#12 Gopro, Inc. 213
#13 Western Digital (fremont), Llc 211
#14 TDK Corporation 174
#15 SNAP Inc. 132
#16 AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.p. 126
#17 Oracle International Corporation 123
#18 Avago Technologies General IP (singapore) Pte. Ltd. 123
#19 Marvell International Ltd. 121
#20 Rovi Guides, Inc. 113

About This Class

CPC subclass G11B belongs to class G11.

21,500 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.

← All Technology Classes Technology Rankings →

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading G11B 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 G11B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in G11B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 G11B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in G11B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 101214161820 05001000150020002500 Patents in G11B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Seagate TechnologyInternational Busines…Western DigitalToshibaSony GroupToshiba Devices & Sto…FujifilmHgst Netherlands B VHeadwaySonosMicrosoft Technology…GoproWestern Digital (Frem…Tdk
Top 14 G11B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in G11B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class G11B?
CPC subclass G11B covers INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER. It belongs to CPC class G11 (INFORMATION STORAGE), with 21,500 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in G11B?
21,500 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass G11B between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in G11B?
Seagate Technology Llc leads G11B with 1,922 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for G11B collected?
Patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It covers all US granted utility patents and assigns CPC codes based on the technology described in each patent.
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
A CPC class (e.g., G11) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like G11B provide finer granularity within that category. PlainPatent organizes data at the subclass level (4-character codes) for the most useful view of technology domains.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent Editorial

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.