CPC technology class · B23

B23B - Turning

Turning; boring. 5,282 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

5,282
US patents granted: #4/9
in B23: 11.1%
B23 class share: -5%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Turning ranks #247 of 670 CPC technology areas - 5,282 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 5% over five years.

#247
of 670 CPC technology areas: 5,282
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Kennametal
leading assignee (231): -5%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B23B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B23B recorded 2,299 grants versus 2,420 in 2015–2019 (-5% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 552 grants and bottomed in 2023 at 366 (+51% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Kennametal Inc. holds 4.4% of the class ; the top three share 12.5%.

Leaderboard read

B23B concentration, lead at 4.4%

Kennametal Inc. leads this historical grant record at 4.4% of B23B - foreign corporation assignees hold 73% of class grants (2,431 of 3,352). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 4.4%
Top three share: 12.5%
Lead over #2: 2

Where B23B sits inside B23

Among 9 subclasses in B23 (Machine TOOLS; Metal-working NOT Otherwise Provided FOR), B23B ranks #4 and holds 11.1% of the parent class's 47,646 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B23K 21,060 B23P 8,569 B23Q 5,906 B23D 2,856 B23C 2,322 B23H 839 B23F 529 B23G 283

Rising assignees active in B23B

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 AB Sandvik Coromant 17x 0 → 17 company-wide · 23 in B23B
#2 E. Zoller GmbH & Co. KG Einstell-und Messgeraete 10x 1 → 10 company-wide · 5 in B23B
#3 JR Automation Technologies, LLC 5.50x 2 → 11 company-wide · 7 in B23B
#4 botek Präzisionsbohrtechnik GmbH 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 10 in B23B
#5 Lock-n-stitch, Inc. 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 6 in B23B

B23B grants by year, peak 2019 (552)

US utility-patent grants per year in B23B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 5% versus 2015–2019.

Kennametal

231
Sumitomo Electric…

229
Kyocera

199
Tungaloy

138
Iscar

136
Milwaukee Electric…

133
Sandvik Intellectual…

109
Black & Decker

103
Mitsubishi Materials

83
Hilti Aktiengesellscha…

65
Citizen Machinery

59
Citizen Watch

55

What this shows Kennametal is the most active filer in B23B, holding 231 of the 5,282 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 B23B
Rank	Company	Patents in B23B
#1	Kennametal Inc.	231
#2	Sumitomo Electric Hardmetal Corp.	229
#3	Kyocera Corporation	199
#4	Tungaloy Corporation	138
#5	Iscar, Ltd.	136
#6	Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation	133
#7	Sandvik Intellectual Property AB	109
#8	Black & Decker Inc.	103
#9	Mitsubishi Materials Corporation	83
#10	Hilti Aktiengesellschaft	65
#11	Citizen Machinery Co., Ltd.	59
#12	Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.	55
#13	Makita Corporation	54
#14	Citic Dicastal Co., Ltd.	50
#15	Seco Tools AB	48
#16	Franz Haimer Maschinenbau KG	41
#17	Apex Brands, Inc.	29
#18	Guehring KG	28
#19	OSG Corporation	26
#20	Roehm GmbH	25

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B23B 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 B23B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B23B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B23B's 5,282-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B23B (#247 of 670 by volume ; lead share 4.4%) - not the B23 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B60P 5,242 H03G 5,213 A41D 5,359 E04F 5,179

Nearest by lead-assignee share

C01G 4.4% A23C 4.4% C10K 4.4% H01R 4.3%

Questions about B23B

Which company holds the most patents in B23B?

Kennametal Inc. leads B23B with 231 patents (4.4% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 73% of class grants.

Which B23B assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B23B, AB Sandvik Coromant shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (17x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 17 in 2022–2024) while holding 23 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B23B compare inside parent class B23?

Inside B23 (Machine TOOLS; Metal-working NOT Otherwise Provided FOR), B23B ranks #4 of 9 subclasses by grant volume and holds 11.1% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B23K (21,060 grants).

What to do with this data

B23B in context - here's where to go next.

Kennametal Inc. leads B23B with 231 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B23B ranks #247 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B23, the largest sibling subclass is B23K with 21,060 grants. Explore B23K

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

Methodology - B23B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (5,282 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.