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CPC technology class · A61

A61K - Preparations FOR Medical

Preparations for medical, dental or toiletry purposes. 151,067 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

151,067
US patents granted
A61
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+11%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Preparations FOR Medical ranks #7 of 670 CPC technology areas - 151,067 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 11% over five years.

#7
of 670 CPC technology areas
151,067
US patents granted, 2015–2025
The Regents of the Un…
leading assignee (1,779)
+11%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: The Regents Of The University Of California (1,779 patents)

CPC subclass A61K - PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES - covers 151,067 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 A61K is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. The Regents Of The University Of California leads with 1,779 patents, followed by L'oreal at 1,250 grants and Novartis Ag at 988.

Filing activity in A61K is up 11% 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 A61K innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in A61K, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 11% versus 2015–2019.

8,00010,00012,00014,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 8,900

Who leads A61K?

The 12 most active assignees in PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows The Regents of the Un… is the most active filer in A61K, holding 1,779 of the 151,067 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 A61K
Rank Company Patents in A61K
#1 The Regents Of The University Of California 1,779
#2 L'oreal 1,250
#3 Novartis Ag 988
#4 The Procter & Gamble Company 985
#5 The Board Of Regents Of The University Of Texas System 950
#6 The United States Of America, As Represented By The Secretary, Department Of Health And Human Services 813
#7 The Trustees Of The University Of Pennsylvania 768
#8 Merck Sharp & Dohme Llc 760
#9 The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University 701
#10 Centre National DE LA Recherche Scientifique 683
#11 Immatics Biotechnologies Gmbh 680
#12 Genentech, Inc. 673
#13 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology 639
#14 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 626
#15 THE Johns Hopkins University 615
#16 Bristol-myers Squibb Company 606
#17 Colgate-palmolive Company 605
#18 The General Hospital Corporation 594
#19 President And Fellows Of Harvard College 520
#20 University Of Pittsburgh—of The Commonwealth System Of Higher Education 488

About This Class

CPC subclass A61K belongs to class A61.

151,067 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 A61K 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 A61K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A61K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 A61K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A61K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 10152025 500100015002000 Patents in A61K Avg claims / patent (company-wide) The Regents of the Un…L'orealNovartisThe Procter & GambleThe Board of Regents…The United States of…The Trustees of the U…Merck Sharp & DohmeThe Board of Trustees…Centre National De La…Immatics Biotechnolog…GenentechMassachusetts Institu…Regeneron Pharmaceuti…
Top 14 A61K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A61K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class A61K?
CPC subclass A61K covers PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES. It belongs to CPC class A61 (MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE), with 151,067 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in A61K?
151,067 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass A61K between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in A61K?
The Regents Of The University Of California leads A61K with 1,779 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for A61K 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 A61K 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.