Automatic Winding Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- 49.2% concentration. The top 5 assignees combined account for 31 of 63 records in scope — just under half the field held by a handful of filers.
- +500% filing growth. Annual filings rose from 1 in 2021 to 6 in 2024, the steepest sustained climb in the dataset before the most recent, still-incomplete years.
- Mechanical core, electromechanical edge. G04B mechanical clocks and watches covers 47.6% of records, but B65H filament-handling classes touch a third of the field — a sign winding mechanics overlap manufacturing equipment more than the watch-industry label suggests.
Filing growth compares 2021 (1 records) with 2024 (6) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 63 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Automatic winding and power reserve mechanisms sit at the intersection of horology and precision mechanical engineering: oscillating weights, mainspring barrels, slipping bridles and reverser wheels that convert wrist motion into stored torque, plus the indicators that tell a wearer how much of that torque remains. The search underpinning this page combines core winding-mechanism terms with efficiency and wear terms, so it captures both the classic mechanical-watch patents and a wider set of filament and spring-handling equipment that shares the same claim language. 63 records sit in scope from 2015 through the 2026 data cut-off, ranked across 40 assignees.
Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the last one to two years in any trend understate real filing activity. Treat the most recent partial years as a floor, not a ceiling, when judging momentum.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 63 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend: a slow build then a sharp rise
Filings were negligible through the mid-2010s, then climbed from 1 in 2021 to 6 in 2024 — a +500% rise over three years, with 2022 the peak year so far at 12 filings. Years after 2024 are still filling in under publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown.
Technology composition: mechanical core, manufacturing overlap
G04B (mechanical clocks and watches) accounts for 47.6% of records, the clearest single core. B65H (web, sheet and filament handling) reaches 33.3%, and G04C (electromechanical clocks) 15.9% — evidence that winding-efficiency and torque-curve claims extend well beyond finished watch movements into the spring and filament-winding equipment that makes their components. Smaller classes in motors, magnetics and metalworking each sit under 8% and mark narrower, more specific claim territory.
Shares are the percentage of the 63 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Automatic Winding and Power Reserve Mechanisms with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about automatic winding and power reserve mechanisms and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in this field
EP3163381B1 — Automatic winding of a wristwatch
Filed by The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd. and granted in 2019, this record is representative of the dataset's core claim style: a mechanical winding assembly for a wristwatch movement, addressed at the oscillating-weight and torque-transfer level rather than at electronics or indication.Publication date and assignee are rendered from the underlying record.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CN105656264A | 一种高速无刷电机锭子多股股漆包圆铜线自动绕线机 | 19 |
| 2 | US20110205857A1 | Oscillating weight for an automatic winding watch, including a power reserve indicator device integrated in s… | 17 |
| 3 | US20100135127A1 | Timepiece movement fitted with an inertial coupling mechanism | 16 |
| 4 | US2617248A | Overwind preventer | 14 |
| 5 | US20120155229A1 | Decorative part, timepiece, and manufacturing method of decorative part | 13 |
| 6 | US20110149697A1 | Timepiece movement fitted with a vibrating alarm | 13 |
| 7 | US8342740B2 | Oscillating weight for an automatic winding watch, including a power reserve indicator device integrated in s… | 9 |
| 8 | US7896542B2 | Timepiece movement fitted with a vibrating alarm | 8 |
| 9 | US20100135126A1 | Timepiece movement fitted with a vibrating alarm | 6 |
| 10 | CN115303852A | 一种具备机械全自动收卷机构的电极片卷材加工设备 | 5 |
Citation counts favour older filings inside any searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three readings of the same dataset, each pointed at a different question a filing team actually has to answer.
Nearly half the field sits with a handful of filers
The top 5 assignees combined hold 31 of the 63 records in scope, with the leader alone on 13. That is a concentrated field for a niche mechanism category, meaning new entrants are more likely to be filing around existing claim clusters than into open ground.
Growth is real but recent, and still measured from a small base
The +500% rise from 2021 to 2024 reflects a jump from a single filing to six — a genuine acceleration, not noise, but still a small-numbers effect. Peak-year activity of 12 filings in 2022 shows the field can spike well above its recent average.
Mechanical watch claims dominate, but not exclusively
G04B mechanical clocks and watches is the largest single class, but B65H filament and sheet-handling records reach a third of the field — filings that read as manufacturing or spring-winding equipment rather than finished timepieces, and that a watch-focused clearance search could easily miss.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to automatic winding and power reserve mechanisms, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranked leaders cluster around established watch manufacturers and a small number of Chinese equipment makers; beyond them the ranking thins quickly into single-filing entrants.
A single assignee holds the largest share
The leading assignee's 13 records is more than double the fifth-place count of 2, a steep drop-off that marks this as a leader-and-field structure rather than an even spread.
The field flattens fast after the leader
By fifth place, counts have fallen to 2 records, and by tenth place to 1. Most of the ranked assignees hold only one or two filings, consistent with a specialist niche rather than a broad industrial category.
Co-filing is rare and localised
Only three co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, each between two closely related entities rather than cross-industry partnerships. This is a field of largely independent filers, not joint ventures.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Shihuaqu Group Research and Development Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse | 0 | — |
| PARSHIKOV VLADIMIR IVANOVICH | 0 | — |
| Zhejiang Copper Processing Research Institute Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Zhejiang Hailiang Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Blancpain SA | 0 | — |
| PONOMAREV DMITRIJ MAKSIMOVICH | 0 | — |
| PONOMAREV | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above set the boundaries of the field. The next step is usually narrower: checking a specific claim, a specific competitor, or a specific gap.
Check a claim against the leader's portfolio
Run a specific torque-transfer or indicator claim against the leading assignee's filings to see how close it sits to granted claim scope.
Explore in Patsnap Eureka →Track the under-claimed branches
Set an alert on the gate chips above — power reserve indication and pivot wear mitigation are two of the thinner branches worth watching for new entrants.
Explore in Patsnap Eureka →Watch the 2024–2026 filing window
Filings from 2025 onward are still incomplete under publication lag; revisit this trend once that window settles to see if the 2021–2024 growth held.
Explore in Patsnap Eureka →Common questions on this field
One assignee leads the ranked field with 13 of the 63 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 2 records. The top 5 assignees combined account for 49.2% of all records, and the top 10 for 61.9%, so filing activity is concentrated at the top with a long tail of single-filing entrants below it. This pattern is typical of a specialist mechanical niche rather than a broad consumer-electronics category.
Filings rose from 1 in 2021 to 6 in 2024, a +500% increase over that three-year span, with a peak year of 12 filings in 2022. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the years from 2025 onward in this dataset are still filling in and should not be read as a decline. On the evidence available through 2024, the trend is upward, not falling.
The largest single IPC class is G04B, mechanical clocks and watches, covering 47.6% of the 63 records in scope. B65H, web and filament handling, reaches 33.3% of records, reflecting winding and spring-handling equipment claims that extend beyond finished watch movements, and G04C electromechanical clocks covers a further 15.9%. Smaller classes in motors, magnetics and metalworking each sit under 8% and mark narrower claim territory rather than core activity.
The thinner branches sit around power reserve indication readouts, pivot wear mitigation, and reverser wheel efficiency — mechanisms that support the core winding claim but attract far fewer dedicated filings than the oscillating weight and mainspring barrel claims themselves. A first claim in these areas would need to specify the wear-reduction or indication mechanism precisely rather than restate the general winding assembly, since that broader ground is already dense with prior art from the leading assignees.
EP3163381B1 covers a specific automatic winding assembly for a wristwatch movement and, like any granted patent, blocks only the particular combination of elements its claims recite, not the general concept of automatic winding. Filers should read its independent claims closely to identify the exact torque-transfer or coupling elements at issue rather than assuming the whole mechanism category is closed. Design-around routes typically exist in the indication and wear-mitigation branches, which sit outside the patent's core claim scope.
Research Automatic Winding and Power Reserve Mechanisms in depth with Eureka
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.