CPC technology class · A01
A01N — Preservation OF Bodies OF Humans OR Animals OR Plants OR…
Preservation of bodies of humans or animals or plants or parts thereof ; biocides, e.g. as disinfectants, as pesticides or as herbicides ; pest repellants or attractants; plant growth regulators. 13,786 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.
- 13,786
- US patents granted
- A01
- Parent CPC class
- 20
- Active assignees
- -3%
- 5-yr velocity
CPC subclass A01N — PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTS THEREOF ; BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES OR AS HERBICIDES ; PEST REPELLANTS OR ATTRACTANTS; PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS — covers 13,786 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records. This subclass sits within the broader CPC class A01 (AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING), one of roughly 250 top-level technology categories in the Cooperative Patent Classification system jointly maintained by the USPTO and the European Patent Office. At the subclass level, four-character codes like A01N give the most practical resolution for tracking a specific technology domain without losing sight of adjacent filings. Every grant here has been classified by a USPTO examiner based on the technical disclosure in the patent specification.
The competitive landscape in A01N is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. BASF SE leads with 420 patents, followed by Syngenta Participations AG at 1,167 grants and BAYER CROPSCIENCE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT at 583. Concentration at the top of the leaderboard indicates whether this technology area is dominated by a handful of incumbents or fragmented across many filers — a useful signal for investors evaluating competitive moats and for product teams mapping freedom-to-operate risk.
Filing trajectory matters as much as static counts. The yearly series on this page plots grants from 2015 through 2025, highlighting whether innovation in A01N is accelerating, plateauing, or cooling. Technology areas with rising post-2020 activity often reflect emerging markets or new platform shifts, while declining filings can signal mature domains where incremental improvement has slowed. Researchers, licensing professionals, and competitive-intelligence teams use these patterns — together with the top-assignee distribution — to decide where to invest, where to license, and where to avoid entanglement. All counts on this page come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.
Is A01N innovation accelerating?
US utility-patent grants per year in A01N, 2015–2025 — recent five years are down 3% versus 2015–2019.
Who leads A01N?
The 12 most active assignees in PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTS THEREOF ; BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES OR AS HERBICIDES ; PEST REPELLANTS OR ATTRACTANTS; PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS — wider bars mean more grants
- Basf Se
BASF SE
4,191 patents
- Syngenta Participatio… 1,167
Syngenta Participations AG
1,167 patents
- Bayer Cropscience Akt… 583
BAYER CROPSCIENCE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
583 patents
- Dow Agrosciences 704
DOW AGROSCIENCES LLC
704 patents
- Sumitomo Chemical
SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
1,758 patents
- Monsanto Technology
Monsanto Technology LLC
3,956 patents
- Ecolab Usa 1,610
ECOLAB USA INC.
1,610 patents
- Bayer Intellectual Pr… 513
Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH
513 patents
- Fmc 146
FMC Corporation
146 patents
- Pioneer Hi-bred Inter…
PIONEER HI-BRED INTERNATIONAL, INC.
3,033 patents
- E I Du Pont De Nemour… 882
E.I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY
882 patents
- Syngenta Crop Protect… 465
Syngenta Crop Protection AG
465 patents
What this shows Basf Se is the most active filer in A01N, holding 420 of the 13,786 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.
View data table
| Rank | Company | Patents in A01N |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | BASF SE | 4,191 |
| #2 | Syngenta Participations AG | 1,167 |
| #3 | BAYER CROPSCIENCE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT | 583 |
| #4 | DOW AGROSCIENCES LLC | 704 |
| #5 | SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED | 1,758 |
| #6 | Monsanto Technology LLC | 3,956 |
| #7 | ECOLAB USA INC. | 1,610 |
| #8 | Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH | 513 |
| #9 | FMC Corporation | 146 |
| #10 | PIONEER HI-BRED INTERNATIONAL, INC. | 3,033 |
| #11 | E.I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY | 882 |
| #12 | Syngenta Crop Protection AG | 465 |
| #13 | The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture | 494 |
| #14 | UPL LTD | 92 |
| #15 | Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. | 92 |
| #16 | VALENT BIOSCIENCES LLC | 72 |
| #17 | NIPPON SODA CO., LTD. | 164 |
| #18 | BAYER HEALTHCARE LLC | 681 |
| #19 | KING FAISAL UNIVERSITY | 803 |
| #20 | Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH | 690 |
About This Class
CPC subclass A01N belongs to class A01.
13,786 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.
20 companies actively patent in this space.
Classification System
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system used by the USPTO and EPO.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CPC class A01N?
How many patents have been filed in A01N?
Which company holds the most patents in A01N?
How is patent data for A01N collected?
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
Learn More
Explore the patent dataset
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.