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 grant trajectory.

21,060
US patents granted
#1/9
in B23
44.2%
B23 class share
+11%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Soldering Or Unsoldering ranks #99 of 670 CPC technology areas - 21,060 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 11% over five years.

#99
of 670 CPC technology areas
21,060
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Illinois Tool Works
leading assignee (976)
+11%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B23K's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B23K recorded 9,835 grants versus 8,833 in 2015–2019 (+11% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 2,318 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 1,462 (+59% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Illinois Tool Works Inc. holds 4.6% of the class ; the top three share 8.6%.

Leaderboard read

B23K concentration, lead at 4.6%

Illinois Tool Works Inc. leads this historical grant record at 4.6% of B23K - foreign corporation assignees hold 56% of class grants (6,582 of 11,844). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
4.6%

976 of 21,060 grants

Top three share
8.6%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
518

more grants than Lincoln Global, Inc.

Where B23K sits inside B23

Among 9 subclasses in B23 (Machine TOOLS; Metal-working NOT Otherwise Provided FOR), B23K ranks #1 and holds 44.2% 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.

B23P 8,569 B23Q 5,906 B23B 5,282 B23D 2,856 B23C 2,322 B23H 839 B23F 529 B23G 283

Rising assignees active in B23K

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. #1 LG Energy Solution, Ltd. 770x 2 → 1,539 company-wide · 49 in B23K
  2. #2 RTX Corporation 662x 0 → 662 company-wide · 28 in B23K
  3. #3 Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp. 144x 0 → 144 company-wide · 10 in B23K
  4. #4 Proterial, Ltd. 139x 0 → 139 company-wide · 10 in B23K
  5. #5 Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, Inc. 92x 0 → 92 company-wide · 7 in B23K

B23K grants by year, peak 2020 (2,318)

US utility-patent grants per year in B23K, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 11% 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

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). 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).

Classes near B23K's 21,060-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B23K (#99 of 670 by volume ; lead share 4.6%) - not the B23 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

G07C 20,919 Y10S 20,857 C08J 21,338 H03M 21,338

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B25J 4.6% A45C 4.6% C07F 4.6% E05F 4.6%

Questions about B23K

Which company holds the most patents in B23K?
Illinois Tool Works Inc. leads B23K with 976 patents (4.6% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 56% of class grants.
Which B23K assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B23K, LG Energy Solution, Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (770x: 2 grants in 2019–2021 → 1,539 in 2022–2024) while holding 49 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does B23K compare inside parent class B23?
Inside B23 (Machine TOOLS; Metal-working NOT Otherwise Provided FOR), B23K ranks #1 of 9 subclasses by grant volume and holds 44.2% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B23P (8,569 grants).

What to do with this data

B23K in context - here's where to go next.

  • Illinois Tool Works Inc. leads B23K with 976 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • B23K ranks #99 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class B23, the largest sibling subclass is B23P with 8,569 grants. Explore B23P

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

Methodology - B23K figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (21,060 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.