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CPC technology class · B01

B01D - Separation

Separation. 43,096 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

43,096
US patents granted
B01
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+24%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Separation ranks #39 of 670 CPC technology areas - 43,096 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 24% over five years.

#39
of 670 CPC technology areas
43,096
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Saudi Arabian Oil
leading assignee (598)
+24%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Saudi Arabian OIL Company (598 patents)

CPC subclass B01D - SEPARATION - covers 43,096 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B01 (PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B01D is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads with 598 patents, followed by Donaldson Company, Inc. at 515 grants and Mann+hummel Gmbh at 488.

Filing activity in B01D is up 24% 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 B01D innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B01D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 24% versus 2015–2019.

2,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 2,730

Who leads B01D?

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

patents

What this shows Saudi Arabian Oil is the most active filer in B01D, holding 598 of the 43,096 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 B01D
Rank Company Patents in B01D
#1 Saudi Arabian OIL Company 598
#2 Donaldson Company, Inc. 515
#3 Mann+hummel Gmbh 488
#4 BASF SE 445
#5 NGK Insulators, Ltd. 417
#6 UOP Llc 315
#7 Johnson Matthey Public Limited Company 312
#8 Cummins Filtration IP, Inc. 288
#9 3M Innovative Properties Company 241
#10 L'air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour L'etude Et L'exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude 224
#11 Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation (hsc) 223
#12 Waters Technologies Corporation 199
#13 Caterpillar Inc. 194
#14 DOW Global Technologies Llc 189
#15 Toray Industries, Inc. 185
#16 KING FAHD University OF Petroleum AND Minerals 181
#17 Corning Incorporated 163
#18 Exxonmobil Research AND Engineering Company 148
#19 Pall Corporation 138
#20 IFP Energies Nouvelles 137

About This Class

CPC subclass B01D belongs to class B01.

43,096 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 B01D 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 B01D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B01D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B01D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B01D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 5101520 100200300400500600700 Patents in B01D Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Saudi Arabian OilDonaldsonMann+HummelBasf SeNgk InsulatorsUopJohnson Matthey PublicCummins Filtration Ip3m Innovative Propert…L'air Liquide Societe…Hamilton Sundstrand (…WatersCaterpillarDow Global
Top 14 B01D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B01D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B01D?
CPC subclass B01D covers SEPARATION. It belongs to CPC class B01 (PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL), with 43,096 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B01D?
43,096 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B01D between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B01D?
Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads B01D with 598 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B01D 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., B01) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B01D 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.