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CPC technology class · B21

B21L - Making Metal Chains

Making metal chains. 54 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

54
US patents granted
B21
Parent CPC class
16
Active assignees
+17%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Making Metal Chains ranks #639 of 670 CPC technology areas - 54 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 17% over five years.

#639
of 670 CPC technology areas
54
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Schaeffler & Kg
leading assignee (3)
+17%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Schaeffler Technologies Ag & Co. KG (3 patents)

CPC subclass B21L - MAKING METAL CHAINS - covers 54 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B21 (MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B21L is shaped by 16 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Schaeffler Technologies Ag & Co. KG leads with 3 patents, followed by Blount, Inc. at 2 grants and Wolf Tooth Components, Llc at 2.

Filing activity in B21L is up 17% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a relatively steady filing pace. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is B21L innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B21L, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 17% versus 2015–2019.

2345678 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 5

Who leads B21L?

The 12 most active assignees in MAKING METAL CHAINS - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Schaeffler & Kg is the most active filer in B21L, holding 3 of the 54 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 B21L
Rank Company Patents in B21L
#1 IWIS Motorsysteme Gmbh & Co. KG 3
#2 Blount, Inc. 2
#3 Wolf Tooth Components, Llc 2
#4 FMH Conveyors Llc 2
#5 Rexnord Flattop Europe B.v. 1
#6 Central IRON AND Steel Research Institute 1
#7 Rexnord Industries, Llc 1
#8 Daido Kogyo Co., Ltd. 1
#9 Crossfor Co., Ltd. 1
#10 POUL Chang Metal Industry Co., Ltd. 1
#11 Marco Bicego S.p.a. 1
#12 Samson ROPE Technologies, Inc. 1
#13 One Pass Innovators, Llc 1
#14 Cosberg S.p.a. 1
#15 Picote Solutions Inc. 1
#16 David Yurman IP Llc 1

About This Class

CPC subclass B21L belongs to class B21.

54 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.

16 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 B21L 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 B21L assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B21L. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B21L assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B21L. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 0510152025 0.511.522.533.5 Patents in B21L Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Iwis Motorsysteme & KgBlountWolf Tooth ComponentsFmh ConveyorsRexnord Flattop Europ…Central Iron And Stee…Rexnord IndustriesDaido KogyoCrossforPoul Chang Metal Indu…Marco Bicego S P ASamson RopeOne Pass InnovatorsCosberg S P A
Top 14 B21L assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B21L. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B21L?
CPC subclass B21L covers MAKING METAL CHAINS. It belongs to CPC class B21 (MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL), with 54 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B21L?
54 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B21L between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B21L?
Schaeffler Technologies Ag & Co. KG leads B21L with 3 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B21L 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., B21) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B21L 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.