Making chains or chain links of special shape

Introduced: September 1968

Last revised: January 2006

Classification Context

Section:: PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Class:: MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
Subclass:: MAKING METAL CHAINS

Filing statistics

IPC B21L 11/00 belongs to the parent subclass B21L, which recorded 2,434 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings grew from 138 in 2013 to 225 in 2023 (+63%), peaking at 354 applications in 2020. The most active applicants in class B21 are JFE STEEL (2,318 applications), JFE STEEL (2,294 applications) and POSCO (POHANG IRON AND STEEL COMPANY) (2,083 applications).

Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings

4 direct subcodes

Child Classifications

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B21L 11/02 each link being formed of a single member of which both ends are bent or shaped to engage the middle portion of the next link
B21L 11/1 the chain links having opposed correspondingly shaped cylindrical and hook-like parts of which one part forms a hinge-like support for the adjacent link
B21L 11/12 Forming bead chains
B21L 11/14 Making chain links with inserted or integrally- formed studs

Top Applicants

Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class B21, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT

JFE STEEL 2,318
JFE STEEL JP 2,294
POSCO (POHANG IRON AND STEEL COMPANY) KR 2,083
NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION JP 1,650
NSSMC (NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL) JP 1,631
SMS GROUP DE 1,472
BAOSHAN IRON & STEEL COMPANY 1,181
SGCC(STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA) 1,079
ANHUI JIANGHUAI AUTOMOBILE 984
HYUNDAI STEEL COMPANY KR 980