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DIFF Subclass Not Allocatable
B41B

MACHINES OR ACCESSORIES FOR MAKING, SETTING, OR DISTRIBUTING TYPE; TYPE; PHOTOGRAPHIC OR PHOTOELECTRIC COMPOSING DEVICES (photographic devices in general G03)

Introduced: September 1968

Description

B41B encompasses machinery and equipment for the complete manufacturing and handling workflow of typographic characters, including type casting, setting, spacing, and sorting systems. It covers mechanical type composition devices, photocomposition systems, and photoelectronic typesetting equipment used in traditional and modern printing preparation. This subclass also includes the physical type characters themselves and auxiliary apparatus for type distribution and management. Related printing processes and the actual printing machines themselves fall under adjacent B41 subclasses rather than B41B.

Title

Titles differ between systems:

IPC: MACHINES OR ACCESSORIES FOR MAKING, SETTING, OR DISTRIBUTING TYPE; TYPE; PHOTOGRAPHIC OR PHOTOELECTRONIC COMPOSING DEVICES

CPC: MACHINES OR ACCESSORIES FOR MAKING, SETTING, OR DISTRIBUTING TYPE; TYPE; PHOTOGRAPHIC OR PHOTOELECTRIC COMPOSING DEVICES (photographic devices in general G03)

Full Title

Full titles differ between systems:

IPC:

MACHINES OR ACCESSORIES FOR MAKING, SETTING, OR DISTRIBUTING TYPE; TYPE; PHOTOGRAPHIC OR PHOTOELECTRONIC COMPOSING DEVICES

CPC:

MACHINES OR ACCESSORIES FOR MAKING, SETTING, OR DISTRIBUTING TYPE; TYPE; PHOTOGRAPHIC OR PHOTOELECTRIC COMPOSING DEVICES (photographic devices in general G03)

IPC and CPC are identically structured here. All 14 subcodes exist in both systems.

5 shared codes have differing titles between IPC and CPC.

Child Classifications

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Top Applicants

Top Applicants (IPC)

Class B41,2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT

  1. SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION 14,672
  2. CANON 14,153
  3. RICOH COMPANY 8,049
  4. SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION JP 8,044
  5. HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY US 7,312
  6. BROTHER INDUSTRIES 6,887
  7. KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS 5,463
  8. CANON JP 5,001
  9. KONICA MINOLTA CORPORATION 4,512
  10. BROTHER INDUSTRIES JP 3,681

Top Applicants (CPC)

Class B41,2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT

  1. SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION 8,446
  2. SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION JP 8,438
  3. HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY US 7,828
  4. CANON JP 5,419
  5. CANON 4,156
  6. BROTHER INDUSTRIES JP 3,763
  7. BROTHER INDUSTRIES 2,779
  8. RICOH COMPANY JP 2,717
  9. FUJIFILM JP 2,423
  10. RICOH COMPANY 1,739