PlainPatent

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 filing trajectory.

6,855
US patents granted
A61
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+29%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Containers Specially Adapted FOR Medical OR Pharmaceutica… ranks #210 of 670 CPC technology areas - 6,855 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 29% over five years.

#210
of 670 CPC technology areas
6,855
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Becton Dickinson and
leading assignee (143)
+29%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Becton, Dickinson And Company (143 patents)

CPC subclass A61J - 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 - covers 6,855 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 A61J is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Becton, Dickinson And Company leads with 143 patents, followed by Corning Incorporated at 116 grants and DEKA Products Limited Parternship at 110.

Filing activity in A61J is up 29% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a sharp acceleration suggesting an emerging or fast-moving technology area. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is A61J innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in A61J, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 29% versus 2015–2019.

400500600700800 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 473

Who leads A61J?

The 12 most active assignees in 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 - wider bars mean more grants

patents

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.

Source USPTO PatentsView, granted utility patents As of 2015–2025 grant years
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

About This Class

CPC subclass A61J belongs to class A61.

6,855 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.

← All Technology Classes Technology Rankings →

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).

Top 14 A61J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A61J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 10152025 050100150 Patents in A61J Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Becton Dickinson andCorning IncorporatedDeka Products Partern…Carefusion 303Icu MedicalAventYuyama MfgPurdue PharmaPurdue PharmaceuticalsSanofi-aventis Deutsc…TerumoFresenius Kabi Deutsc…Express Scripts Strat…Baxter International
Top 14 A61J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A61J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class A61J?
CPC subclass A61J covers 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. It belongs to CPC class A61 (MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE), with 6,855 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in A61J?
6,855 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass A61J between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in A61J?
Becton, Dickinson And Company leads A61J with 143 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for A61J 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 A61J 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.