CPC technology class · B01

B01J - Chemical Or Physical Processes

Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus. 35,809 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

35,809
US patents granted: #2/5
in B01: 34.6%
B01 class share: -7%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Chemical Or Physical Processes ranks #47 of 670 CPC technology areas - 35,809 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 7% over five years.

#47
of 670 CPC technology areas: 35,809
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Basf Se
leading assignee (754): -7%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B01J's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B01J recorded 14,713 grants versus 15,739 in 2015–2019 (-7% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 3,404 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 2,670 (+27% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Basf SE holds 2.1% of the class ; the top three share 5.3%.

Leaderboard read

B01J concentration, lead at 2.1%

Basf SE leads this historical grant record at 2.1% of B01J - foreign corporation assignees hold 57% of class grants (14,885 of 26,177). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 2.1%
Top three share: 5.3%
Lead over #2: 140

Where B01J sits inside B01

Among 5 subclasses in B01 (Physical OR Chemical Processes OR Apparatus IN General), B01J ranks #2 and holds 34.6% of the parent class's 103,400 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B01D 43,096 B01L 15,586 B01F 8,785 B01B 124

Rising assignees active in B01J

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 Exxon Mobil Technology and Engineering Company 298x 0 → 298 company-wide · 89 in B01J
#2 King Faisal University 125x 6 → 747 company-wide · 54 in B01J
#3 Shell USA, Inc. 110x 0 → 110 company-wide · 37 in B01J
#4 Totalenergies Onetech 65x 0 → 65 company-wide · 19 in B01J
#5 Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. 61x 0 → 61 company-wide · 7 in B01J

B01J grants by year, peak 2019 (3,404)

US utility-patent grants per year in B01J, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 7% versus 2015–2019.

Basf Se

754
Saudi Arabian Oil

614
Lg Chem

538
Uop

465
Chevron Phillips…

446
Exxonmobil Chemical…

403
King Fahd University…

351
Ifp Energies Nouvelles

350
Johnson Matthey Public

346
Chevron U

284
Dow Global

271
Sabic Global B V

230

What this shows Basf Se is the most active filer in B01J, holding 754 of the 35,809 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 B01J
Rank	Company	Patents in B01J
#1	Basf SE	754
#2	Saudi Arabian OIL Company	614
#3	LG Chem, Ltd.	538
#4	UOP LLC	465
#5	Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP	446
#6	ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc.	403
#7	King Fahd University OF Petroleum AND Minerals	351
#8	IFP Energies Nouvelles	350
#9	Johnson Matthey Public Limited Company	346
#10	Chevron U.S.A. Inc.	284
#11	DOW Global Technologies LLC	271
#12	Sabic Global Technologies B.V.	230
#13	Exxonmobil Research AND Engineering Company	226
#14	Shell OIL Compny	214
#15	NGK Insulators, Ltd.	213
#16	The Regents of the University of California	204
#17	China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation	196
#18	Centre National DE LA Recherche Scientifique	181
#19	Umicore AG & Co. KG	174
#20	Haldor TOPSØE A/S	157

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B01J 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 B01J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B01J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B01J's 35,809-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B01J (#47 of 670 by volume ; lead share 2.1%) - not the B01 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

H01R 35,523 G10L 35,471 C08L 36,183 Y02B 34,811

Nearest by lead-assignee share

C09D 2.1% A23L 2.1% B30B 2.1% A61J 2.1%

Questions about B01J

Which company holds the most patents in B01J?

Basf SE leads B01J with 754 patents (2.1% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 57% of class grants.

Which B01J assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B01J, Exxon Mobil Technology and Engineering Company shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (298x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 298 in 2022–2024) while holding 89 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B01J compare inside parent class B01?

Inside B01 (Physical OR Chemical Processes OR Apparatus IN General), B01J ranks #2 of 5 subclasses by grant volume and holds 34.6% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B01D (43,096 grants).

What to do with this data

B01J in context - here's where to go next.

Basf SE leads B01J with 754 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B01J ranks #47 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B01, the largest sibling subclass is B01D with 43,096 grants. Explore B01D

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

Methodology - B01J figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (35,809 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.