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CPC Subgroup
G04B 21/02

Regular striking mechanisms giving the full hour, half hour or quarter hour

Full Title

Indicating the time by acoustic means (at preselected times G04B23/00; by electro-acoustic means G04C21/04; ) > Regular striking mechanisms giving the full hour, half hour or quarter hour

Filing statistics

CPC G04B 21/02 belongs to the parent subclass G04B, which recorded 21,796 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings grew from 1,615 in 2013 to 1,692 in 2023 (+5%), peaking at 2,440 applications in 2016. The most active applicants in class G04 are THE SWATCH GROUP RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (1,705 applications), ETA SA MANUFACTURE HORLOGERE SUISSE (1,443 applications) and SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY (1,104 applications).

Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings

8 direct subcodes

Child Classifications

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  • G04B 21/027
  • G04B 21/04 Hour wheels; Racks or rakes; Snails or similar control mechanisms
  • G04B 21/06 Details of striking mechanisms, e.g. hammer, fan governor
  • G04B 21/08 Sounding bodies; Whistles; Musical apparatus (with electro-acoustical transmitters G04C21/00, )
  • G04B 21/10 Releasing or locking the regular stroke, e.g. for silence during the night
  • G04B 21/12 Reiterating watches or clocks
  • G04B 21/14 Winding-up the striking mechanism by the clockwork; winding up the clockwork by the striking mechanism

Top Applicants

Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class G04, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT

  1. THE SWATCH GROUP RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CH 1,705
  2. ETA SA MANUFACTURE HORLOGERE SUISSE CH 1,443
  3. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY KR 1,104
  4. APPLE US 1,038
  5. SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION 875
  6. NIVAROX-FAR CH 781
  7. CASIO COMPUTER COMPANY 734
  8. MONTRES BREGUET CH 715
  9. SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION JP 715
  10. OMEGA CH 555