CPC technology class · B21

B21J - Forging

Forging; hammering; pressing metal; riveting; forge furnaces. 1,805 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

1,805
US patents granted: #4/9
in B21: 11.7%
B21 class share: -1%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Forging ranks #378 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,805 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 1% over five years.

#378
of 670 CPC technology areas: 1,805
US patents granted, 2015–2025: The Boeing
leading assignee (133): -1%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B21J's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B21J recorded 819 grants versus 828 in 2015–2019 (-1% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 222 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 113 (+96% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Newfrey LLC holds 2.4% of the class ; the top three share 6.0%.

Leaderboard read

B21J concentration, lead at 2.4%

Newfrey LLC leads this historical grant record at 2.4% of B21J - foreign corporation assignees hold 66% of class grants (462 of 696). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 2.4%
Top three share: 6.0%
Lead over #2: 9

Where B21J sits inside B21

Among 9 subclasses in B21 (Mechanical Metal-working Without Essentially Removing MATERIAL; Punching Metal), B21J ranks #4 and holds 11.7% of the parent class's 15,472 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B21D 7,309 B21B 1,895 B21C 1,874 B21K 1,246 B21F 817 B21H 386 B21G 86 B21L 54

Rising assignees active in B21J

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 JR Automation Technologies, LLC 5.50x 2 → 11 company-wide · 7 in B21J
#2 Howmet Aerospace Inc. 3.00x 10 → 30 company-wide · 9 in B21J
#3 Gage Bilt, Inc. 3.00x 0 → 3 company-wide · 8 in B21J
#4 Penn Engineering & Manufacturing Corp. 2.14x 7 → 15 company-wide · 7 in B21J
#5 Standard Lifters, Inc. 1.88x 8 → 15 company-wide · 9 in B21J

B21J grants by year, peak 2020 (222)

US utility-patent grants per year in B21J, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 1% versus 2015–2019.

Newfrey

44
Nsk

35
Nippon Steel &…

29
Böllhoff Verbindungste…

27
Atlas Copco Ias Uk

21
Ati Properties

17
Broetje-automation

17
Profil Verbindungstech…

15
Tox Pressotechnik & Kg

15
Henrob

14
Sms group

11
Arconic

10

What this shows The Boeing is the most active filer in B21J, holding 133 of the 1,805 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 B21J
Rank	Company	Patents in B21J
#1	Newfrey LLC	44
#2	NSK Ltd.	35
#3	Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation	29
#4	Böllhoff Verbindungstechnik GmbH	27
#5	Atlas Copco IAS UK Limited	21
#6	ATI Properties LLC	17
#7	Broetje-Automation GmbH	17
#8	Profil Verbindungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG	15
#9	TOX Pressotechnik GMBH & Co. KG	15
#10	Henrob Limited	14
#11	SMS group GmbH	11
#12	Arconic Corporation	10
#13	National Machine Company	10
#14	Howmet Aerospace Inc.	9
#15	Standard Lifters, Inc.	9
#16	Richard Bergner Verbindungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG	8
#17	Langenstein & Schemann GMBH	8
#18	Gage Bilt, Inc.	8
#19	Daido Steel Co., Ltd.	7
#20	Neturen Co., Ltd.	7

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B21J 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 B21J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B21J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B21J's 1,805-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B21J (#378 of 670 by volume ; lead share 7.4%) - not the B21 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

G01W 1,805 B60D 1,802 A24B 1,799 A43C 1,793

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B60J 7.4% D21H 7.4% G06F 7.4% G21D 7.4%

Questions about B21J

Which company holds the most patents in B21J?

The Boeing Company leads B21J with 133 patents (2.4% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 66% of class grants.

Which B21J assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B21J, JR Automation Technologies, LLC shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (5.50x: 2 grants in 2019–2021 → 11 in 2022–2024) while holding 7 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B21J compare inside parent class B21?

Inside B21 (Mechanical Metal-working Without Essentially Removing MATERIAL; Punching Metal), B21J ranks #4 of 9 subclasses by grant volume and holds 11.7% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B21D (7,309 grants).

What to do with this data

B21J in context - here's where to go next.

Newfrey LLC leads B21J with 44 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B21J ranks #378 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B21, the largest sibling subclass is B21D with 7,309 grants. Explore B21D

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

Methodology - B21J figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,805 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.