CPC technology class · A61

A61Q - Specific Use Of Cosmetics Or Similar Toiletry Preparations

Specific use of cosmetics or similar toiletry preparations. 14,001 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

14,001
US patents granted: #8/13
in A61: 2.2%
A61 class share: -7%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Specific Use Of Cosmetics Or Similar Toiletry Preparations ranks #136 of 670 CPC technology areas - 14,001 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 7% over five years.

#136
of 670 CPC technology areas: 14,001
US patents granted, 2015–2025: L'oreal
leading assignee (1,232): -7%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How A61Q's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, A61Q recorded 6,063 grants versus 6,515 in 2015–2019 (-7% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 1,435 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 983 (+46% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee L'Oreal holds 8.8% of the class ; the top three share 19.3%.

Leaderboard read

A61Q concentration, lead at 8.8%

L'Oreal leads this historical grant record at 8.8% of A61Q - foreign corporation assignees hold 56% of class grants (5,567 of 9,888). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 8.8%
Top three share: 19.3%
Lead over #2: 359

Where A61Q sits inside A61

Among 13 subclasses in A61 (Medical OR Veterinary SCIENCE; Hygiene), A61Q ranks #8 and holds 2.2% 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 A61C 8,164

Rising assignees active in A61Q

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 Totalenergies Onetech 65x 0 → 65 company-wide · 9 in A61Q
#2 Trucapsol LLC 10x 1 → 10 company-wide · 7 in A61Q
#3 EXoCoBio Inc. 9.00x 0 → 9 company-wide · 9 in A61Q
#4 Wella International Operations Switzerland Sarl 7.00x 0 → 7 company-wide · 9 in A61Q
#5 Advanced Aesthetic Technologies, Inc. 7.00x 1 → 7 company-wide · 7 in A61Q

A61Q grants by year, peak 2020 (1,435)

US utility-patent grants per year in A61Q, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 7% versus 2015–2019.

L'oreal

1,232
The Procter & Gamble

873
Colgate-palmolive

595
Henkel & Kgaa

415
Conopco

269
Mary Kay

242
Kao

233
Amorepacific

193
Shiseido

162
Symrise

155
Johnson & Johnson…

153
Firmenich

124

What this shows L'oreal is the most active filer in A61Q, holding 1,232 of the 14,001 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 A61Q
Rank	Company	Patents in A61Q
#1	L'Oreal	1,232
#2	The Procter & Gamble Company	873
#3	Colgate-Palmolive Company	595
#4	Henkel AG & Co. KGaA	415
#5	Conopco, Inc.	269
#6	Mary KAY Inc	242
#7	KAO Corporation	233
#8	Amorepacific Corporation	193
#9	Shiseido Company, Limited	162
#10	Symrise AG	155
#11	Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.	153
#12	Firmenich SA	124
#13	ELC Management LLC	109
#14	DSM IP Assets B.V.	93
#15	ISP Investments LLC	86
#16	International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.	79
#17	Avon Products, Inc.	79
#18	Allergan, Inc.	68
#19	Givaudan SA	67
#20	LG Household & Health Care Ltd.	61

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A61Q 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 A61Q assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A61Q. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near A61Q's 14,001-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A61Q (#136 of 670 by volume ; lead share 8.8%) - not the A61 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B65H 13,990 H03F 14,014 F24F 14,049 C12P 13,948

Nearest by lead-assignee share

G11B 8.9% F04F 8.9% C06B 8.6% H01J 8.6%

Questions about A61Q

Which company holds the most patents in A61Q?

L'Oreal leads A61Q with 1,232 patents (8.8% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 56% of class grants.

Which A61Q assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A61Q, Totalenergies Onetech shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (65x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 65 in 2022–2024) while holding 9 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does A61Q compare inside parent class A61?

Inside A61 (Medical OR Veterinary SCIENCE; Hygiene), A61Q ranks #8 of 13 subclasses by grant volume and holds 2.2% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A61B (162,009 grants).

What to do with this data

A61Q in context - here's where to go next.

L'Oreal leads A61Q with 1,232 grants in this class. See full portfolio
A61Q ranks #136 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 - A61Q figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (14,001 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.