PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B23

B23C - Milling

Milling. 2,322 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

2,322
US patents granted
B23
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
-12%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Milling ranks #353 of 670 CPC technology areas - 2,322 US patents granted since 2015, with filing down 12% over five years.

#353
of 670 CPC technology areas
2,322
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Kennametal
leading assignee (158)
-12%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Kennametal Inc. (158 patents)

CPC subclass B23C - MILLING - covers 2,322 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B23 (MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B23C is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Kennametal Inc. leads with 158 patents, followed by Kyocera Corporation at 118 grants and Tungaloy Corporation at 106.

Filing activity in B23C is down 12% 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 B23C innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B23C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 12% versus 2015–2019.

100150200250300 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 121

Who leads B23C?

The 12 most active assignees in MILLING - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Kennametal is the most active filer in B23C, holding 158 of the 2,322 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 B23C
Rank Company Patents in B23C
#1 Kennametal Inc. 158
#2 Kyocera Corporation 118
#3 Tungaloy Corporation 106
#4 Sumitomo Electric Hardmetal Corp. 101
#5 Iscar, Ltd. 92
#6 Sandvik Intellectual Property AB 81
#7 Mitsubishi Materials Corporation 50
#8 THE Hillman Group, Inc. 42
#9 Seco Tools AB 42
#10 Korloy Inc. 26
#11 Makino Milling Machine Co., Ltd. 21
#12 Franz Haimer Maschinenbau KG 21
#13 OSG Corporation 20
#14 Taegutec Ltd. 20
#15 Mitsubishi Hitachi TOOL Engineering, Ltd. 19
#16 Moldino TOOL Engineering, Ltd. 19
#17 HY-KO Products Company Llc 19
#18 Karsten Manufacturing Corporation 17
#19 Guehring KG 17
#20 Hartmetall-werkzeugfabrik Paul Horn Gmbh 17

About This Class

CPC subclass B23C belongs to class B23.

2,322 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.

20 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 B23C 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 B23C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B23C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B23C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B23C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 051015202530 050100150200 Patents in B23C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) KennametalKyoceraTungaloySumitomo Electric Har…IscarSandvik Intellectual…Mitsubishi MaterialsThe Hillman GroupSeco Tools AbKorloyMakino Milling MachineFranz Haimer Maschine…OsgTaegutec
Top 14 B23C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B23C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B23C?
CPC subclass B23C covers MILLING. It belongs to CPC class B23 (MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR), with 2,322 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B23C?
2,322 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B23C between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B23C?
Kennametal Inc. leads B23C with 158 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B23C 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., B23) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B23C 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.