USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

KOBE Steel Ltd.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 1,023 granted patents across 233 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: C22C (ALLOYS).

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

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

1,023

Total patents granted

233

CPC technology areas

9.4

Avg claims per patent

-42%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

KOBE holds 1,023 US patents across 233 technology areas, rank #446 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#446
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 5%
by Innovation Score (57.5/100): 9.4
avg claims per patent: -42%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

KOBE Steel Ltd. has been granted 1,023 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing KOBE Steel Ltd. at rank #446 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 233 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 9.4 claims per patent with primary concentration in C22C (ALLOYS). As a Foreign Corporation, KOBE Steel Ltd. is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, KOBE sits between DSM IP Assets B.v. (1,027 patents, rank #442) and Nicira, Inc. (1,011 patents, rank #450) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 57.5/100 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 377 grants, compared with 646 in the 2015–2019 window, a -42% shift in five-year velocity. A cooling filing rate may reflect portfolio consolidation, shifting priorities, or reduced R&D throughput. The Foreign 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. KOBE Steel Ltd.'s 9.4 average claims per patent suggests focused, narrowly drawn claims typical of single-invention filings, 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 KOBE Steel Ltd. against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

DSM IP Assets B V

1,027
Aptiv

1,025
DEKA Products Par…

1,025
Palo Alto Researc…

1,025
KOBE Steel ◀

1,023
Commvault Systems

1,020
Mayo Foundation f…

1,020
Allstate Insurance

1,012
Nicira

1,011

What this shows KOBE holds 1,023 patents at rank #446, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near KOBE

By rank, the assignees closest to #446 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in C22C (Alloys)

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

KOBE's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

58 Top 5% higher than 95% 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

KOBE Steel Ltd. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	124	12.1%
2016	131	12.8%
2017	148	14.5%
2018	109	10.7%
2019	134	13.1%
2020	105	10.3%
2021	90	8.8%
2022	70	6.8%
2023	28	2.7%
2024	47	4.6%
2025	37	3.6%

Which technologies does KOBE Steel Ltd. patent most?

C22C - ALLOYS 233

B23K - SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM 153

C21D - MODIFYING THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF FERROUS METALS; GENERAL DEVICES FOR HEAT TREATMENT OF FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS METALS OR ALLOYS; MAKING METAL MALLEABLE, e.g. BY DECARBURISATION OR TEMPERING 109

C23C - COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL 109

Y10T - TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION 95

Y02E - REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION 73

B21D - WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL 67

G01M - TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 65

Y02P - CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS 64

C22F - CHANGING THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF NON-FERROUS METALS AND NON-FERROUS ALLOYS 61

B32B - LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM 47

B62D - MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS 44

B29C - SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING 43

F04B - POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS 38

B22F - WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER ; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER 36

Top 15 of 233 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Strong

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Simple

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#446

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

57.5 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 KOBE Steel Ltd. hold?

KOBE Steel Ltd. holds 1,023 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 233 technology areas.

What is KOBE Steel Ltd.'s Innovation Score?

KOBE Steel Ltd. has an Innovation Score of 57.5 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does KOBE Steel Ltd. focus on?

KOBE Steel Ltd.'s top technology area is C22C (ALLOYS) with 233 patents. The company has filed patents in 233 CPC subclasses total.

Is KOBE Steel Ltd.'s patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

KOBE Steel Ltd.'s recent filing velocity is -42% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for KOBE Steel Ltd.'s patents?

KOBE Steel Ltd.'s patents average 9.4 claims each. This is relatively simple claim structure, typical for focused inventions.

How is the KOBE Steel Ltd. 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

KOBE's 1,023 grants land it in the top 5% 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 - KOBE ranks #446 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in C22C - see who else leads that technology area. C22C 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.