PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B01

B01L - Chemical Or Physical Laboratory Apparatus For General Use

Chemical or physical laboratory apparatus for general use. 15,586 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

15,586
US patents granted
#3/5
in B01
15.1%
B01 class share
+18%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Chemical Or Physical Laboratory Apparatus For General Use ranks #121 of 670 CPC technology areas - 15,586 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 18% over five years.

#121
of 670 CPC technology areas
15,586
US patents granted, 2015–2025
International Business…
leading assignee (242)
+18%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B01L's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B01L recorded 7,346 grants versus 6,207 in 2015–2019 (+18% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2021 at 1,487 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 1,176 (+26% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee The Regents of the University of California holds 1.5% of the class ; the top three share 4.3%.

Leaderboard read

B01L concentration, lead at 1.5%

The Regents of the University of California leads this historical grant record at 1.5% of B01L - us corporation assignees hold 66% of class grants (6,486 of 9,818). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
1.5%

239 of 15,586 grants

Top three share
4.3%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
7

more grants than Illumina, Inc.

Where B01L sits inside B01

Among 5 subclasses in B01 (Physical OR Chemical Processes OR Apparatus IN General), B01L ranks #3 and holds 15.1% 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 B01J 35,809 B01F 8,785 B01B 124

Rising assignees active in B01L

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. #1 Schott Pharma Schweiz AG 33x 0 → 33 company-wide · 12 in B01L
  2. #2 Beijing BOE Sensor Technology Co., Ltd. 27x 3 → 81 company-wide · 10 in B01L
  3. #3 Eppendorf SE 19x 0 → 19 company-wide · 11 in B01L
  4. #4 Shaheen Innovations Holding Limted 19x 2 → 38 company-wide · 10 in B01L
  5. #5 Nuclera Ltd 14x 0 → 14 company-wide · 9 in B01L

B01L grants by year, peak 2021 (1,487)

US utility-patent grants per year in B01L, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 18% versus 2015–2019.

1,0001,1001,2001,3001,4001,5001,600 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 1,079

Who leads B01L?

The 12 most active assignees in Chemical OR Physical Laboratory Apparatus FOR General USE - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows International… is the most active filer in B01L, holding 242 of the 15,586 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 B01L
Rank Company Patents in B01L
#1 The Regents of the University of California 239
#2 Illumina, Inc. 232
#3 Becton, Dickinson and Company 193
#4 Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. 174
#5 President and Fellows of Harvard College 165
#6 Life Technologies Corporation 158
#7 Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc. 141
#8 Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc. 119
#9 Gen-probe Incorporated 117
#10 Hitachi High-tech Corporation 84
#11 Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. 84
#12 Sysmex Corporation 82
#13 The General Hospital Corporation 81
#14 Tecan Trading AG 71
#15 Abbott Point of Care Inc. 70
#16 Shimadzu Corporation 66
#17 EMD Millipore Corporation 64
#18 Handylab, Inc. 63
#19 Advanced Liquid Logic, Inc. 61
#20 Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation 59

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B01L 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 B01L assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B01L. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 50100150200250 Patents in B01L Avg claims / patent (company-wide) The Regents of the…IlluminaBecton Dickinson andBio-rad LaboratoriesPresident and Fellows…LifeRoche Diagnostics…Siemens Healthcare…Gen-probe IncorporatedHitachi High-techRoche Molecular…SysmexThe General HospitalTecan Trading
Top 14 B01L assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B01L. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B01L's 15,586-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B01L (#121 of 670 by volume ; lead share 1.6%) - not the B01 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

F21S 15,705 F16D 15,330 H02P 16,031 F04D 16,174

Nearest by lead-assignee share

Y02W 1.6% C07D 1.5% C07K 1.5% B65D 1.6%

Questions about B01L

Which company holds the most patents in B01L?
International Business Machines Corporation leads B01L with 242 patents (1.5% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 66% of class grants.
Which B01L assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B01L, Schott Pharma Schweiz AG shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (33x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 33 in 2022–2024) while holding 12 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does B01L compare inside parent class B01?
Inside B01 (Physical OR Chemical Processes OR Apparatus IN General), B01L ranks #3 of 5 subclasses by grant volume and holds 15.1% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B01D (43,096 grants).

What to do with this data

B01L in context - here's where to go next.

  • The Regents of the University of California leads B01L with 239 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • B01L ranks #121 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 - B01L figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (15,586 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.