USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

Caterpillar Inc.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 4,178 granted patents across 277 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: E02F (DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING).

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

4,178

Total patents granted

277

CPC technology areas

15.5

Avg claims per patent

-10%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

Caterpillar holds 4,178 US patents across 277 technology areas, rank #83 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#83
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 0.1%
by Innovation Score (69.9/100): 15.5
avg claims per patent: -10%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

Caterpillar Inc. has been granted 4,178 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing Caterpillar Inc. at rank #83 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 277 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 15.5 claims per patent with primary concentration in E02F (DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING). As a US Corporation, Caterpillar Inc. is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, Caterpillar sits between Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd. (4,374 patents, rank #79) and United Microelectronics Corp. (4,034 patents, rank #87) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 69.9/100 blends portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth into a single comparable measure drawn directly from USPTO PatentsView records.

Filing cadence tells the strategic story. Between 2020 and 2025 the company received 1,976 grants, compared with 2,202 in the 2015–2019 window, a -10% shift in five-year velocity. A cooling filing rate may reflect portfolio consolidation, shifting priorities, or reduced R&D throughput. The US Corporation classification further shapes interpretation, since corporate, government, and individual filers pursue patents for materially different reasons.

Claim depth and technology breadth together indicate competitive posture. Caterpillar Inc.'s 15.5 average claims per patent sits within the typical range for solid legal coverage without excessive prosecution cost, while a diversified footprint across 100+ CPC subclasses spreads risk across many technology fronts. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark Caterpillar Inc. against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Guangdong OPPO Mo…

4,374
Commissariat A L'…

4,218
ZTE

4,193
BASF SE

4,191
Caterpillar ◀

4,178
Konica Minolta

4,158
Kyocera

4,151
United

4,091
United Microelect…

4,034

What this shows Caterpillar holds 4,178 patents at rank #83, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Caterpillar

By rank, the assignees closest to #83 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in E02F (Dredging)

Other assignees with the most granted patents in Caterpillar's primary technology class.

Caterpillar's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

Composite of portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth (0–100)

70 Top 1% higher than 99% of 50,000 US assignees

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US assignees. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source USPTO PatentsView, PlainPatent Innovation Score · 2015–2025

USPTO utility patent grants by year · 2015–2025

Grants by year

Teal-shaded recent years (2020–present) versus the 2015–2019 baseline. Full figures in the table below.

View data table

Caterpillar Inc. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	531	12.7%
2016	420	10.1%
2017	474	11.3%
2018	406	9.7%
2019	371	8.9%
2020	318	7.6%
2021	355	8.5%
2022	362	8.7%
2023	348	8.3%
2024	351	8.4%
2025	242	5.8%

Which technologies does Caterpillar Inc. patent most?

E02F - DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING 1,041

Y02T - CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION 613

F02M - SUPPLYING COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL WITH COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURES OR CONSTITUENTS THEREOF 474

F02D - CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES 414

B62D - MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS 358

F02B - INTERNAL-COMBUSTION PISTON ENGINES; COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL 309

F01N - GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES 223

B01D - SEPARATION 194

Y10T - TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION 189

F15B - SYSTEMS ACTING BY MEANS OF FLUIDS IN GENERAL; FLUID-PRESSURE ACTUATORS, e.g. SERVOMOTORS; DETAILS OF FLUID-PRESSURE SYSTEMS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 185

B60W - CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT 181

F16H - GEARING 175

G05D - SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES 152

B60K - ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY 140

B60Y - INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO ASPECTS CROSS-CUTTING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY 138

Top 15 of 277 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Strong

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Standard

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#83

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

69.9 out of 100

View all rankings →

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

How is Innovation Score calculated?

Frequently Asked Questions

How many patents does Caterpillar Inc. hold?

Caterpillar Inc. holds 4,178 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 277 technology areas.

What is Caterpillar Inc.'s Innovation Score?

Caterpillar Inc. has an Innovation Score of 69.9 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Caterpillar Inc. focus on?

Caterpillar Inc.'s top technology area is E02F (DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING) with 1,041 patents. The company has filed patents in 277 CPC subclasses total.

Is Caterpillar Inc.'s patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

Caterpillar Inc.'s recent filing velocity is -10% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for Caterpillar Inc.'s patents?

Caterpillar Inc.'s patents average 15.5 claims each. This falls within the standard range, providing solid legal coverage.

How is the Caterpillar Inc. patent data sourced?

All patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering US granted utility patents from 2015 to 2025.

How to use this portfolio

Caterpillar's 4,178 grants land it in the top 0.1% by Innovation Score, but volume alone doesn't tell you where the strength sits.

Read that count against the largest US assignees before treating it as dominance - Caterpillar ranks #83 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in E02F - see who else leads that technology area. E02F leaders
Check what the four-part Innovation Score actually rewards before comparing it to another company. How the score works

Patent counts and the Innovation Score measure patenting activity, not commercial success or the legal strength of any patent. Many patents are filed defensively. Verify the status of an individual patent against official USPTO records.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the USPTO PatentsView database. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sources used on this page

USPTO PatentsView - the disambiguated bulk patent-grant, assignee, and CPC data this page's figures are derived from. patentsview.org
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) - the joint USPTO/EPO classification scheme used to group patents by technology area. cooperativepatentclassification.org
USPTO Patent Public Search - the official interface to verify the status of any individual patent. ppubs.uspto.gov

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2026.