CPC technology class · A61

A61J - Containers Specially Adapted For Medical Or Pharmaceutica…

Containers specially adapted for medical or pharmaceutical purposes; devices or methods specially adapted for bringing pharmaceutical products into particular physical or administering forms; devices for administering food or medicines orally; baby comforters; devices for receiving spittle. 6,855 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

6,855
US patents granted: #11/13
in A61: 1.1%
A61 class share: +13%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Containers Specially Adapted For Medical Or Pharmaceutica… ranks #210 of 670 CPC technology areas - 6,855 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 13% over five years.

#210
of 670 CPC technology areas: 6,855
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Becton Dickinson and
leading assignee (143): +13%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How A61J's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, A61J recorded 3,246 grants versus 2,877 in 2015–2019 (+13% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 713 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 480 (+49% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Becton, Dickinson and Company holds 2.1% of the class ; the top three share 5.4%.

Leaderboard read

A61J concentration, lead at 2.1%

Becton, Dickinson and Company leads this historical grant record at 2.1% of A61J - us corporation assignees hold 60% of class grants (2,796 of 4,678). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 2.1%
Top three share: 5.4%
Lead over #2: 27

Where A61J sits inside A61

Among 13 subclasses in A61 (Medical OR Veterinary SCIENCE; Hygiene), A61J ranks #11 and holds 1.1% of the parent class's 646,867 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

A61B 162,009 A61K 151,067 A61P 125,535 A61M 57,639 A61F 50,959 A61N 30,889 A61L 25,308 A61Q 14,001

Rising assignees active in A61J

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 Schott Pharma Schweiz AG 33x 0 → 33 company-wide · 20 in A61J
#2 Schott Pharma AG & Co. Kgaa 16x 0 → 16 company-wide · 14 in A61J
#3 Terumo BCT Biotechnologies, LLC 11x 1 → 11 company-wide · 9 in A61J
#4 Chiaro Technology Limited 9.50x 2 → 19 company-wide · 16 in A61J
#5 Inveniam Capital Partners, Inc. 8.50x 4 → 34 company-wide · 6 in A61J

A61J grants by year, peak 2020 (713)

US utility-patent grants per year in A61J, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 13% versus 2015–2019.

Becton Dickinson and

143
Corning Incorporated

116
Deka Products…

110
Carefusion 303

84
Icu Medical

82
Avent

66
Yuyama Mfg

66
Purdue Pharma

64
Purdue Pharmaceuticals

56
Sanofi-aventis…

55
Terumo

50
Fresenius Kabi…

49

What this shows Becton Dickinson and is the most active filer in A61J, holding 143 of the 6,855 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 A61J
Rank	Company	Patents in A61J
#1	Becton, Dickinson and Company	143
#2	Corning Incorporated	116
#3	Deka Products Limited Parternship	110
#4	Carefusion 303, Inc.	84
#5	ICU Medical, Inc.	82
#6	Avent, Inc.	66
#7	Yuyama Mfg. Co., Ltd.	66
#8	Purdue Pharma L.P.	64
#9	Purdue Pharmaceuticals L.P.	56
#10	Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GMBH	55
#11	Terumo Kabushiki Kaisha	50
#12	Fresenius Kabi Deutschland GmbH	49
#13	Express Scripts Strategic Development, Inc.	40
#14	Baxter International Inc.	39
#15	Schott AG	39
#16	Baxter Healthcare SA	38
#17	Fenwal, Inc.	38
#18	Amgen Inc.	32
#19	Medtronic Minimed, Inc.	30
#20	NeoMed, Inc.	30

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A61J 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 A61J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A61J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near A61J's 6,855-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A61J (#210 of 670 by volume ; lead share 2.1%) - not the A61 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

C01G 6,857 C21D 6,851 B63B 6,790 B60J 6,966

Nearest by lead-assignee share

D02G 2.1% Y04S 2.1% A23L 2.1% B01J 2.1%

Questions about A61J

Which company holds the most patents in A61J?

Becton, Dickinson and Company leads A61J with 143 patents (2.1% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 60% of class grants.

Which A61J assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A61J, Schott Pharma Schweiz AG shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (33x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 33 in 2022–2024) while holding 20 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does A61J compare inside parent class A61?

Inside A61 (Medical OR Veterinary SCIENCE; Hygiene), A61J ranks #11 of 13 subclasses by grant volume and holds 1.1% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A61B (162,009 grants).

What to do with this data

A61J in context - here's where to go next.

Becton, Dickinson and Company leads A61J with 143 grants in this class. See full portfolio
A61J ranks #210 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class A61, the largest sibling subclass is A61B with 162,009 grants. Explore A61B

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

Methodology - A61J figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (6,855 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.