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 grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

21,500
US patents granted: #2/2
in G11: 28.6%
G11 class share: -39%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Information Storage Based On Relative Movement Between Re… ranks #96 of 670 CPC technology areas - 21,500 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 39% over five years.

#96
of 670 CPC technology areas: 21,500
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Seagate Technology
leading assignee (1,922): -39%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How G11B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, G11B recorded 7,426 grants versus 12,256 in 2015–2019 (-39% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2015 at 3,285 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 1,226 (+168% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Seagate Technology LLC holds 8.9% of the class ; the top three share 20.8%.

Leaderboard read

G11B concentration, lead at 8.9%

Seagate Technology LLC leads this historical grant record at 8.9% of G11B - us corporation assignees hold 60% of class grants (9,626 of 15,948). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 8.9%
Top three share: 20.8%
Lead over #2: 643

Where G11B sits inside G11

Among 2 subclasses in G11 (Information Storage), G11B ranks #2 and holds 28.6% of the parent class's 75,283 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

G11C 53,783

Rising assignees active in G11B

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 Meta Platforms, Inc. 376x 2 → 751 company-wide · 14 in G11B
#2 Yahoo Assets LLC 254x 0 → 254 company-wide · 6 in G11B
#3 Inspur Suzhou Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. 217x 0 → 217 company-wide · 5 in G11B
#4 Beijing Zitiao Network Technology Co., Ltd. 203x 0 → 203 company-wide · 66 in G11B
#5 Lemon Inc. 199x 1 → 199 company-wide · 21 in G11B

G11B grants by year, peak 2015 (3,285)

US utility-patent grants per year in G11B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 39% versus 2015–2019.

Seagate Technology

1,922
International…

1,279
Western Digital

1,271
Toshiba

850
Sony Group

728
Toshiba Devices &…

487
Fujifilm

481
Hgst Netherlands B V

373
Headway

277
Sonos

235
Microsoft Technology…

234
Gopro

213

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.

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

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).

Classes near G11B's 21,500-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for G11B (#96 of 670 by volume ; lead share 8.9%) - not the G11 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B25J 21,590 C08J 21,338 H03M 21,338 G03F 21,670

Nearest by lead-assignee share

F04F 8.9% G07F 9.0% E06C 9.0% B43K 9.1%

Questions about G11B

Which company holds the most patents in G11B?

Seagate Technology LLC leads G11B with 1,922 patents (8.9% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 60% of class grants.

Which G11B assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in G11B, Meta Platforms, Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (376x: 2 grants in 2019–2021 → 751 in 2022–2024) while holding 14 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does G11B compare inside parent class G11?

Inside G11 (Information Storage), G11B ranks #2 of 2 subclasses by grant volume and holds 28.6% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is G11C (53,783 grants).

What to do with this data

G11B in context - here's where to go next.

Seagate Technology LLC leads G11B with 1,922 grants in this class. See full portfolio
G11B ranks #96 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class G11, the largest sibling subclass is G11C with 53,783 grants. Explore G11C

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

Methodology - G11B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (21,500 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.