CPC technology class · A46

A46B - Brushes

Brushes. 2,997 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

2,997
US patents granted: #1/2
in A46: 84.8%
A46 class share: +19%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Brushes ranks #314 of 670 CPC technology areas - 2,997 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 19% over five years.

#314
of 670 CPC technology areas: 2,997
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Colgate-palmolive
leading assignee (382): +19%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How A46B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, A46B recorded 1,491 grants versus 1,257 in 2015–2019 (+19% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 338 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 204 (+66% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Colgate-Palmolive Company holds 12.7% of the class ; the top three share 19.8%.

Leaderboard read

A46B concentration, lead at 12.7%

Colgate-Palmolive Company leads this historical grant record at 12.7% of A46B - us corporation assignees hold 59% of class grants (1,062 of 1,812). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 12.7%
Top three share: 19.8%
Lead over #2: 241

Where A46B sits inside A46

Among 2 subclasses in A46 (Brushware), A46B ranks #1 and holds 84.8% of the parent class's 3,535 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

A46D 538

Rising assignees active in A46B

Company-wide grant multiples (2022–2024 vs 2019–2021) among assignees with ≥5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide; class patent counts are subclass-specific.

#1 Old Dominion Brush Company 10x 1 → 10 company-wide · 5 in A46B
#2 KT&G Corporation 8.79x 29 → 255 company-wide · 6 in A46B
#3 Fresh Health Inc. 8.00x 1 → 8 company-wide · 5 in A46B
#4 Sanderson Macleod, Inc. 4.00x 1 → 4 company-wide · 6 in A46B
#5 Shya Hsin Packaging Industry (CHINA) Co., Ltd. 4.00x 5 → 20 company-wide · 6 in A46B

A46B grants by year, peak 2020 (338)

US utility-patent grants per year in A46B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 19% versus 2015–2019.

Colgate-palmolive

382
L'oreal

141
The Braun

71
The Gillette

53
Trisa Holding

44
Dyson Technology

43
Bissell

38
Albea Services

27
Sharkninja Operating

22
Geka

21
Omron Healthcare

18
Bissell Homecare

18

What this shows Colgate-palmolive is the most active filer in A46B, holding 382 of the 2,997 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

View data table

Top patent holders in CPC subclass A46B
Rank	Company	Patents in A46B
#1	Colgate-Palmolive Company	382
#2	L'Oreal	141
#3	The Braun Corporation	71
#4	The Gillette Company LLC	53
#5	Trisa Holding AG	44
#6	Dyson Technology Limited	43
#7	Bissell Inc.	38
#8	Albea Services	27
#9	SharkNinja Operating LLC	22
#10	Geka GmbH	21
#11	Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.	18
#12	Bissell Homecare, Inc.	18
#13	Water Pik, Inc.	16
#14	Chanel Parfums Beaute	16
#15	Willo 32 SAS	16
#16	Aktiebolaget Electrolux	14
#17	Sage Products, LLC	13
#18	Sunstar Suisse SA	13
#19	Unger Marketing International, LLC	12
#20	Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.	12

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A46B assignee, placed by how many patents it holds in this class (horizontal) against its company-wide average claims per patent (vertical) - a read on whether the class is led by broad-but-shallow filers or focused deep-claim players.

Top 14 A46B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A46B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near A46B's 2,997-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A46B (#314 of 670 by volume ; lead share 12.7%) - not the A46 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B64G 2,994 C23F 2,985 B41F 2,980 G21K 3,019

Nearest by lead-assignee share

F02K 12.8% B25F 12.7% H03B 12.7% A46D 12.8%

Questions about A46B

Which company holds the most patents in A46B?

Colgate-Palmolive Company leads A46B with 382 patents (12.7% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 59% of class grants.

Which A46B assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A46B, Old Dominion Brush Company shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (10x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 10 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does A46B compare inside parent class A46?

Inside A46 (Brushware), A46B ranks #1 of 2 subclasses by grant volume and holds 84.8% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A46D (538 grants).

What to do with this data

A46B in context - here's where to go next.

Colgate-Palmolive Company leads A46B with 382 grants in this class. See full portfolio
A46B ranks #314 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class A46, the largest sibling subclass is A46D with 538 grants. Explore A46D

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through 2026-05-15; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Methodology - A46B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (2,997 grants in the tracked window).

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.