PlainPatent

CPC technology class · A61

A61F - Filters Implantable INTO Blood Vessels

Filters implantable into blood vessels; prostheses; devices providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body, e.g. stents; orthopaedic, nursing or contraceptive devices; fomentation; treatment or protection of eyes or ears; bandages, dressings or absorbent pads; firs. 50,959 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

50,959
US patents granted
A61
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+15%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Filters Implantable INTO Blood Vessels ranks #33 of 670 CPC technology areas - 50,959 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 15% over five years.

#33
of 670 CPC technology areas
50,959
US patents granted, 2015–2025
The Procter & Gamble
leading assignee (1,426)
+15%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company (1,426 patents)

CPC subclass A61F - FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRS - covers 50,959 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class A61 (MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in A61F is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. The Procter & Gamble Company leads with 1,426 patents, followed by Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc. at 1,101 grants and Edwards Lifesciences Corporation at 1,101.

Filing activity in A61F is up 15% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a relatively steady filing pace. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is A61F innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in A61F, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 15% versus 2015–2019.

3,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,500 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 3,332

Who leads A61F?

The 12 most active assignees in FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRS - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows The Procter & Gamble is the most active filer in A61F, holding 1,426 of the 50,959 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

Source USPTO PatentsView, granted utility patents As of 2015–2025 grant years
View data table
Top patent holders in CPC subclass A61F
Rank Company Patents in A61F
#1 The Procter & Gamble Company 1,426
#2 Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc. 1,101
#3 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation 1,101
#4 Depuy Synthes Products, Inc. 851
#5 Globus Medical, Inc. 752
#6 COOK Medical Technologies Llc 700
#7 Smith & Nephew, Inc. 541
#8 Covidien Lp 528
#9 Alcon Inc. 489
#10 Kimberly-clark Worldwide, Inc. 427
#11 W.l. Gore & Associates Gmbh 420
#12 KCI Licensing, Inc. 417
#13 Warsaw Orthopedic, Inc. 415
#14 Howmedica Osteonics Corp. 392
#15 Abbott Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. 385
#16 Medtronic Vascular, Inc. 383
#17 Coloplast A/s 378
#18 Unicharm Corporation 369
#19 Zimmer, Inc. 363
#20 Medtronic, Inc. 318

About This Class

CPC subclass A61F belongs to class A61.

50,959 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.

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Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A61F 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 A61F assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A61F. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 A61F assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A61F. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 121416182022 050010001500 Patents in A61F Avg claims / patent (company-wide) The Procter & GambleBoston Scientific Sci…Edwards LifesciencesDepuy Synthes ProductsGlobus MedicalCook MedicalSmith & NephewCovidienAlconKimberly-clark Worldw…W L Gore & AssociatesKci LicensingWarsaw OrthopedicHowmedica Osteonics
Top 14 A61F assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A61F. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class A61F?
CPC subclass A61F covers FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRS. It belongs to CPC class A61 (MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE), with 50,959 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in A61F?
50,959 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass A61F between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in A61F?
The Procter & Gamble Company leads A61F with 1,426 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for A61F collected?
Patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It covers all US granted utility patents and assigns CPC codes based on the technology described in each patent.
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
A CPC class (e.g., A61) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like A61F provide finer granularity within that category. PlainPatent organizes data at the subclass level (4-character codes) for the most useful view of technology domains.

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

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

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.