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IPC Subgroup
H04N 21/231

Content storage operation, e.g. caching movies for short term storage, replicating data over plural servers or prioritizing data for deletion

Introduced: January 2011

Full Title

Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD] > Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof > Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware > Content storage operation, e.g. caching movies for short term storage, replicating data over plural servers or prioritizing data for deletion

Classification Context

Section:
ELECTRICITY
Class:
ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
Subclass:
PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

Filing statistics

IPC H04N 21/231 belongs to the parent subclass H04N, which recorded 1,015,361 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings grew from 76,403 in 2013 to 85,701 in 2023 (+12%), peaking at 118,798 applications in 2020. The most active applicants in class H04 are QUALCOMM (97,396 applications), HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY (96,502 applications) and SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY (86,981 applications).

Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings

1 direct subcode

Child Classifications

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Top Applicants

Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class H04, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT

  1. QUALCOMM US 97,396
  2. HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY CN 96,502
  3. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY KR 86,981
  4. TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL) SE 55,869
  5. HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY 55,349
  6. LG ELECTRONICS KR 53,649
  7. CANON 33,341
  8. SONY CORPORATION JP 32,761
  9. ZTE CORPORATION CN 32,274
  10. GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION 28,327