PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B08

B08B - Cleaning IN General

Cleaning in general; prevention of fouling in general. 9,052 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

9,052
US patents granted
B08
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+57%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Cleaning IN General ranks #179 of 670 CPC technology areas - 9,052 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 57% over five years.

#179
of 670 CPC technology areas
9,052
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Tokyo Electron
leading assignee (261)
+57%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited (261 patents)

CPC subclass B08B - CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL - covers 9,052 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B08 (CLEANING). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B08B is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Tokyo Electron Limited leads with 261 patents, followed by Screen Holdings Co., Ltd. at 217 grants and Applied Materials, Inc. at 173.

Filing activity in B08B is up 57% 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 B08B innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B08B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 57% versus 2015–2019.

4006008001,0001,200 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 677

Who leads B08B?

The 12 most active assignees in CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Tokyo Electron is the most active filer in B08B, holding 261 of the 9,052 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 B08B
Rank Company Patents in B08B
#1 Tokyo Electron Limited 261
#2 Screen Holdings Co., Ltd. 217
#3 Applied Materials, Inc. 173
#4 Ecolab USA Inc. 152
#5 Ebara Corporation 121
#6 Semes Co., Ltd. 114
#7 Lam Research Corporation 53
#8 Stoneage, Inc. 38
#9 Sugino Machine Limited 33
#10 Gecko Robotics, Inc. 30
#11 KHS Gmbh 29
#12 Valeo Systemes D'essuyage 27
#13 Ridge Tool Company 27
#14 Krones Ag 26
#15 ACM Research (shanghai), Inc. 25
#16 THE Clorox Company 24
#17 Toshiba Memory Corporation 22
#18 Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 21
#19 Georgia-pacific Consumer Products Lp 21
#20 Citic Dicastal Co., Ltd. 20

About This Class

CPC subclass B08B belongs to class B08.

9,052 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 B08B 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 B08B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B08B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B08B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B08B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 0100200300 Patents in B08B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Tokyo ElectronScreen HoldingsApplied MaterialsEcolab UsaEbaraSemesLam ResearchStoneageSugino MachineGecko RoboticsKhsValeo Systemes d'essu…Ridge ToolKrones
Top 14 B08B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B08B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B08B?
CPC subclass B08B covers CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL. It belongs to CPC class B08 (CLEANING), with 9,052 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B08B?
9,052 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B08B between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B08B?
Tokyo Electron Limited leads B08B with 261 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B08B 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., B08) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B08B 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.