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IPC Subgroup
H04N 21/44

Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs

Introduced: January 2011

Full Title

Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD] > Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of, or interaction with, content, e.g. STB [set-top-box]; Operations thereof > Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronizing decoder's clock; Client middleware > Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs

Classification Context

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

Filing statistics

IPC H04N 21/44 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

3 direct subcodes

Child Classifications

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  • H04N 21/4402 involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display
  • H04N 21/4405 involving video stream decryption
  • H04N 21/4408 involving video stream encryption, e.g. re-encrypting a decrypted video stream for redistribution in a home network

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