CPC technology class · B21

B21K - Making Forged Or Pressed Metal Products

Making forged or pressed metal products, e.g. horse-shoes, rivets, bolts or wheels. 1,246 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

1,246
US patents granted: #5/9
in B21: 8.1%
B21 class share: -11%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Making Forged Or Pressed Metal Products ranks #426 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,246 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 11% over five years.

#426
of 670 CPC technology areas: 1,246
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Nsk
leading assignee (39): -11%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B21K's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B21K recorded 537 grants versus 601 in 2015–2019 (-11% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 139 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 83 (+67% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee NSK Ltd. holds 3.1% of the class ; the top three share 6.0%.

Leaderboard read

B21K concentration, lead at 3.1%

NSK Ltd. leads this historical grant record at 3.1% of B21K - foreign corporation assignees hold 60% of class grants (271 of 454). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 3.1%
Top three share: 6.0%
Lead over #2: 21

Where B21K sits inside B21

Among 9 subclasses in B21 (Mechanical Metal-working Without Essentially Removing MATERIAL; Punching Metal), B21K ranks #5 and holds 8.1% 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 B21J 1,805 B21F 817 B21H 386 B21G 86 B21L 54

Rising assignees active in B21K

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 Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp. 144x 0 → 144 company-wide · 5 in B21K
#2 Federal-mogul Valvetrain GMBH 6.33x 3 → 19 company-wide · 9 in B21K
#3 Standard Lifters, Inc. 1.88x 8 → 15 company-wide · 10 in B21K
#4 DL Technology, LLC. 1.80x 5 → 9 company-wide · 6 in B21K
#5 Thyssenkrupp Presta Aktiengesellschaft 1.27x 109 → 138 company-wide · 10 in B21K

B21K grants by year, peak 2020 (139)

US utility-patent grants per year in B21K, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 11% versus 2015–2019.

Nsk

39
Acushnet

18
Nittan Valve

18
American Axle &…

12
Citic Dicastal

11
Neturen

11
Steering Solutions Ip…

10
Thyssenkrupp Presta…

10
Standard Lifters

10
National Machine

10
Federal-mogul…

9
Callaway Golf

8

What this shows Nsk is the most active filer in B21K, holding 39 of the 1,246 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 B21K
Rank	Company	Patents in B21K
#1	NSK Ltd.	39
#2	Acushnet Company	18
#3	Nittan Valve Co., Ltd.	18
#4	American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc.	12
#5	Citic Dicastal Co., Ltd.	11
#6	Neturen Co., Ltd.	11
#7	Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation	10
#8	Thyssenkrupp Presta Aktiengesellschaft	10
#9	Standard Lifters, Inc.	10
#10	National Machine Company	10
#11	Federal-mogul Valvetrain GMBH	9
#12	Callaway Golf Company	8
#13	Asia Vital Components Co., Ltd.	6
#14	ArvinMeritor Technology, LLC	6
#15	DL Technology, LLC.	6
#16	Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.	5
#17	S.P.M. Flow Control, Inc.	5
#18	Phillips Screw Company	5
#19	Stafast Products, Inc.	5
#20	Felss Systems GmbH	5

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B21K 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 B21K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B21K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B21K's 1,246-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B21K (#426 of 670 by volume ; lead share 3.1%) - not the B21 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B63C 1,244 C08C 1,240 D21F 1,255 D06P 1,234

Nearest by lead-assignee share

G06T 3.1% F16B 3.1% C12Y 3.1% F21Y 3.1%

Questions about B21K

Which company holds the most patents in B21K?

NSK Ltd. leads B21K with 39 patents (3.1% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 60% of class grants.

Which B21K assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B21K, Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (144x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 144 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B21K compare inside parent class B21?

Inside B21 (Mechanical Metal-working Without Essentially Removing MATERIAL; Punching Metal), B21K ranks #5 of 9 subclasses by grant volume and holds 8.1% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B21D (7,309 grants).

What to do with this data

B21K in context - here's where to go next.

NSK Ltd. leads B21K with 39 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B21K ranks #426 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 - B21K figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,246 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.