B42B PERMANENTLY ATTACHING TOGETHER SHEETS, QUIRES OR SIGNATURES OR PERMANENTLY ATTACHING OBJECTS THERETO (nailing or stapling in general B25C, B27F; machines for both collating or gathering and permanently attaching together sheets or signatures B42C1/12; temporarily attaching sheets together B42F)
Description
B42B covers methods and apparatus for permanently joining sheets, quires, or signatures together, as well as attaching objects to paper materials. This includes binding techniques such as stitching, sewing, gluing, and other fastening processes used in bookbinding and document assembly. The classification encompasses both the mechanical processes and the equipment used to perform these permanent attachments in production of bound documents and publications.
Filing statistics
CPC subclass B42B recorded 2,449 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings declined from 266 in 2013 to 109 in 2023 (-59%), peaking at 426 applications in 2018. The most active applicants in class B42 are SICPA HOLDING (1,317 applications), GIESECKE+DEVRIENT CURRENCY TECHNOLOGY (949 applications) and BUNDESDRUCKEREI (881 applications).
Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings
5 direct subcodes
Child Classifications
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- B42B 2/00 Permanently attaching together sheets, quires or signatures by stitching with filamentary material, e.g. textile threads (discontinuously B42B4/00)
- B42B 4/00 Permanently attaching together sheets, quires or signatures by discontinuous stitching with filamentary material, e.g. wire
- B42B 5/00 Permanently attaching together sheets, quires or signatures otherwise than by stitching (by deformation thereof B31F; by adhesive peculiar to bookbinding B42C9/00)
- B42B 7/00 Permanently attaching objects, e.g. map sections, to sheets
- B42B 9/00 Devices common to machines for carrying out the processes according to more than one of the preceding main groups (auxiliary equipment in making paper articles B31F; auxiliary equipment in printing machines B41; conveyors in general B65G; )
Top Applicants
Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class B42, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT
- SICPA HOLDING CH 1,317
- GIESECKE+DEVRIENT CURRENCY TECHNOLOGY DE 949
- BUNDESDRUCKEREI DE 881
- DE LA RUE INTERNATIONAL GB 870
- TOPPAN PRINTING COMPANY JP 455
- G&D (GIESECKE & DEVRIENT) DE 421
- CCL SECURE AU 343
- OVD KINEGRAM CH 308
- OBERTHUR FIDUCIAIRE FR 251
- CRANE COMPANY US 204