CPC technology class · B04

B04B - Centrifuges

Centrifuges. 1,233 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

1,233
US patents granted: #1/2
in B04: 58.5%
B04 class share: +0%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Centrifuges ranks #430 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,233 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 0% over five years.

#430
of 670 CPC technology areas: 1,233
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Alfa Laval Corporate Ab
leading assignee (100): +0%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B04B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B04B recorded 556 grants versus 557 in 2015–2019 (+0% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 131 grants and bottomed in 2017 at 93 (+41% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Alfa Laval Corporate AB holds 8.1% of the class ; the top three share 16.3%.

Leaderboard read

B04B concentration, lead at 8.1%

Alfa Laval Corporate AB leads this historical grant record at 8.1% of B04B - foreign corporation assignees hold 55% of class grants (467 of 844). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 8.1%
Top three share: 16.3%
Lead over #2: 44

Where B04B sits inside B04

Among 2 subclasses in B04 (Centrifugal Apparatus OR Machines FOR Carrying-out Physical OR Chemical Processes), B04B ranks #1 and holds 58.5% of the parent class's 2,106 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B04C 873

Rising assignees active in B04B

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 Cellares Corporation 7.00x 0 → 7 company-wide · 10 in B04B
#2 Eppendorf Himac Technologies Co., Ltd. 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 10 in B04B
#3 Exact Sciences Corporation 4.00x 8 → 32 company-wide · 12 in B04B
#4 Miltenyi Biotec B.V. & Co. KG 3.57x 7 → 25 company-wide · 6 in B04B
#5 Biofire Defense, LLC 2.43x 7 → 17 company-wide · 7 in B04B

B04B grants by year, peak 2019 (131)

US utility-patent grants per year in B04B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 0% versus 2015–2019.

Alfa Laval Corporate…

100
Fenwal

56
Gea Mechanical…

45
Terumo Bct

38
Becton Dickinson and

29
Andreas Hettich & Kg

23
Terumo

21
Mann+Hummel

17
Beckman Coulter

16
Thermo Electron Led

16
Flottweg Se

16
Hitachi Koki

15

What this shows Alfa Laval Corporate… is the most active filer in B04B, holding 100 of the 1,233 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 B04B
Rank	Company	Patents in B04B
#1	Alfa Laval Corporate AB	100
#2	Fenwal, Inc.	56
#3	GEA Mechanical Equipment GmbH	45
#4	Terumo BCT, Inc.	38
#5	Becton, Dickinson and Company	29
#6	Andreas Hettich GmbH & Co. KG	23
#7	Terumo Kabushiki Kaisha	21
#8	MANN+HUMMEL GmbH	17
#9	Beckman Coulter, Inc.	16
#10	Thermo Electron LED GmbH	16
#11	Flottweg SE	16
#12	Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd.	15
#13	Cummins Filtration IP, Inc.	14
#14	Qwtip LLC	13
#15	Eppendorf AG	12
#16	Exact Sciences Corporation	12
#17	Pneumatic Scale Corporation	12
#18	Precision Planting LLC	11
#19	Haemonetics Corporation	11
#20	Cellares Corporation	10

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B04B 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 B04B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B04B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B04B's 1,233-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B04B (#430 of 670 by volume ; lead share 8.1%) - not the B04 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

C05G 1,232 D06P 1,234 B09B 1,226 C08C 1,240

Nearest by lead-assignee share

D10B 8.1% B60T 8.1% F01K 8.2% F01N 8.1%

Questions about B04B

Which company holds the most patents in B04B?

Alfa Laval Corporate AB leads B04B with 100 patents (8.1% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 55% of class grants.

Which B04B assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B04B, Cellares Corporation shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (7.00x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 7 in 2022–2024) while holding 10 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B04B compare inside parent class B04?

Inside B04 (Centrifugal Apparatus OR Machines FOR Carrying-out Physical OR Chemical Processes), B04B ranks #1 of 2 subclasses by grant volume and holds 58.5% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B04C (873 grants).

What to do with this data

B04B in context - here's where to go next.

Alfa Laval Corporate AB leads B04B with 100 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B04B ranks #430 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B04, the largest sibling subclass is B04C with 873 grants. Explore B04C

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

Methodology - B04B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,233 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.