PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B23

B23K - Soldering OR Unsoldering

Soldering or unsoldering; welding; cladding or plating by soldering or welding; cutting by applying heat locally, e.g. flame cutting; working by laser beam. 21,060 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

21,060
US patents granted
B23
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+27%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Soldering OR Unsoldering ranks #99 of 670 CPC technology areas - 21,060 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 27% over five years.

#99
of 670 CPC technology areas
21,060
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Illinois Tool Works
leading assignee (976)
+27%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Illinois TOOL Works Inc. (976 patents)

CPC subclass B23K - SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM - covers 21,060 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 B23K is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Illinois TOOL Works Inc. leads with 976 patents, followed by Lincoln Global, Inc. at 458 grants and Disco Corporation at 369.

Filing activity in B23K is up 27% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a sharp acceleration suggesting an emerging or fast-moving technology area. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is B23K innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B23K, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 27% versus 2015–2019.

1,0001,5002,0002,500 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 1,401

Who leads B23K?

The 12 most active assignees in SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Illinois Tool Works is the most active filer in B23K, holding 976 of the 21,060 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 B23K
Rank Company Patents in B23K
#1 Illinois TOOL Works Inc. 976
#2 Lincoln Global, Inc. 458
#3 Disco Corporation 369
#4 Senju Metal Industry Co., Ltd. 186
#5 Fanuc Corporation 179
#6 United Technologies Corporation 155
#7 KOBE Steel Ltd. 153
#8 Corning Incorporated 139
#9 JFE Steel Corporation 138
#10 Applied Materials, Inc. 132
#11 Hamamatsu Photonics K.k. 132
#12 Hypertherm, Inc. 118
#13 Nippon Steel Corporation 106
#14 Siemens Energy, Inc. 104
#15 Raytheon Technologies Corporation 93
#16 Fronius International Gmbh 90
#17 Trumpf Werkzeugmaschinen Gmbh + Co. KG 79
#18 Rolls-royce Plc 73
#19 Rolls-royce Corporation 73
#20 UACJ Corporation 69

About This Class

CPC subclass B23K belongs to class B23.

21,060 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 B23K 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 B23K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B23K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B23K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B23K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 020040060080010001200 Patents in B23K Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Illinois Tool WorksLincoln GlobalDiscoSenju Metal IndustryFanucUnitedKobe SteelCorning IncorporatedJfe SteelApplied MaterialsHamamatsu Photonics K…HyperthermNippon SteelSiemens Energy
Top 14 B23K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B23K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B23K?
CPC subclass B23K covers SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM. It belongs to CPC class B23 (MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR), with 21,060 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B23K?
21,060 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B23K between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B23K?
Illinois TOOL Works Inc. leads B23K with 976 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B23K 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 B23K 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.