CPC technology class · B22

B22D - Casting Of Metals

Casting of metals; casting of other substances by the same processes or devices. 4,425 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

4,425
US patents granted: #2/3
in B22: 22.8%
B22 class share: -7%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Casting Of Metals ranks #259 of 670 CPC technology areas - 4,425 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 7% over five years.

#259
of 670 CPC technology areas: 4,425
US patents granted, 2015–2025: General Electric
leading assignee (101): -7%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B22D's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B22D recorded 1,874 grants versus 2,012 in 2015–2019 (-7% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 494 grants and bottomed in 2016 at 317 (+56% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Novelis Inc. holds 1.3% of the class ; the top three share 3.9%.

Leaderboard read

B22D concentration, lead at 1.3%

Novelis Inc. leads this historical grant record at 1.3% of B22D - foreign corporation assignees hold 68% of class grants (1,322 of 1,956). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 1.3%
Top three share: 3.9%
Lead over #2: 1

Where B22D sits inside B22

Among 3 subclasses in B22 (CASTING; Powder Metallurgy), B22D ranks #2 and holds 22.8% of the parent class's 19,441 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B22F 13,344 B22C 1,672

Rising assignees active in B22D

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 Proterial, Ltd. 139x 0 → 139 company-wide · 11 in B22D
#2 Additive Technologies LLC 16x 0 → 16 company-wide · 7 in B22D
#3 H.C. Starck Solutions Coldwater, LLC 7.00x 0 → 7 company-wide · 5 in B22D
#4 MH Technologies Inc. 6.00x 0 → 6 company-wide · 5 in B22D
#5 Vesuvius Group, S.A. 5.50x 2 → 11 company-wide · 23 in B22D

B22D grants by year, peak 2019 (494)

US utility-patent grants per year in B22D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 7% versus 2015–2019.

Novelis

59
Nippon Steel

58
Jfe Steel

57
Molten Metal…

55
Citic Dicastal

52
Nippon Steel &…

46
Sintokogio

43
Refractory Intellectua…

39
Nucor

37
Sms group

36
Posco

31
Baoshan Iron & Steel

31

What this shows General Electric is the most active filer in B22D, holding 101 of the 4,425 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 B22D
Rank	Company	Patents in B22D
#1	Novelis Inc.	59
#2	Nippon Steel Corporation	58
#3	JFE Steel Corporation	57
#4	Molten Metal Equipment Innovations, LLC	55
#5	Citic Dicastal Co., Ltd.	52
#6	Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation	46
#7	Sintokogio, Ltd.	43
#8	Refractory Intellectual Property GMBH & Co. KG	39
#9	Nucor Corporation	37
#10	SMS group GmbH	36
#11	Posco Co., Ltd	31
#12	Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.	31
#13	Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche S.P.A.	31
#14	Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC	26
#15	Krosakiharima Corporation	26
#16	Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH	24
#17	ATI Properties LLC	24
#18	Nippon Light Metal Company, Ltd.	23
#19	Pyrotek, Inc.	23
#20	Vesuvius Group, S.A.	23

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B22D 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 B22D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B22D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B22D's 4,425-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B22D (#259 of 670 by volume ; lead share 2.3%) - not the B22 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

A01B 4,498 B60S 4,346 E05D 4,538 B60B 4,268

Nearest by lead-assignee share

G16B 2.3% A23V 2.3% H01S 2.3% C08G 2.3%

Questions about B22D

Which company holds the most patents in B22D?

General Electric Company leads B22D with 101 patents (1.3% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 68% of class grants.

Which B22D assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B22D, Proterial, Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (139x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 139 in 2022–2024) while holding 11 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B22D compare inside parent class B22?

Inside B22 (CASTING; Powder Metallurgy), B22D ranks #2 of 3 subclasses by grant volume and holds 22.8% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B22F (13,344 grants).

What to do with this data

B22D in context - here's where to go next.

Novelis Inc. leads B22D with 59 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B22D ranks #259 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B22, the largest sibling subclass is B22F with 13,344 grants. Explore B22F

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

Methodology - B22D figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (4,425 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.