CPC technology class · B23

B23P - Metal-working

Metal-working not otherwise provided for; combined operations; universal machine tools. 8,569 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

8,569
US patents granted: #2/9
in B23: 18.0%
B23 class share: -20%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Metal-working ranks #184 of 670 CPC technology areas - 8,569 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 20% over five years.

#184
of 670 CPC technology areas: 8,569
US patents granted, 2015–2025: General Electric
leading assignee (368): -20%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B23P's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B23P recorded 3,481 grants versus 4,350 in 2015–2019 (-20% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2017 at 920 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 592 (+55% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee United Technologies Corporation holds 1.9% of the class ; the top three share 4.1%.

Leaderboard read

B23P concentration, lead at 1.9%

United Technologies Corporation leads this historical grant record at 1.9% of B23P - us corporation assignees hold 51% of class grants (1,896 of 3,703). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 1.9%
Top three share: 4.1%
Lead over #2: 66

Where B23P sits inside B23

Among 9 subclasses in B23 (Machine TOOLS; Metal-working NOT Otherwise Provided FOR), B23P ranks #2 and holds 18.0% 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 B23Q 5,906 B23B 5,282 B23D 2,856 B23C 2,322 B23H 839 B23F 529 B23G 283

Rising assignees active in B23P

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 RTX Corporation 662x 0 → 662 company-wide · 47 in B23P
#2 Collins Engine Nozzles, Inc. 74x 0 → 74 company-wide · 7 in B23P
#3 Oliver Crispin Robotics Limited 28x 0 → 28 company-wide · 10 in B23P
#4 E. Zoller GmbH & Co. KG Einstell-und Messgeraete 10x 1 → 10 company-wide · 7 in B23P
#5 Alloy Enterprises Inc. 9.00x 0 → 9 company-wide · 8 in B23P

B23P grants by year, peak 2017 (920)

US utility-patent grants per year in B23P, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 20% versus 2015–2019.

United

167
Raytheon

101
Rolls-royce

87
Mahle International

83
Deka Products…

81
Siemens Energy

71
Safran Aircraft…

58
Whirlpool

54
Pratt & Whitney Canada

50
Rtx

47
Snecma

45
Rolls-royce

40

What this shows General Electric is the most active filer in B23P, holding 368 of the 8,569 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 B23P
Rank	Company	Patents in B23P
#1	United Technologies Corporation	167
#2	Raytheon Technologies Corporation	101
#3	Rolls-royce plc	87
#4	Mahle International GmbH	83
#5	Deka Products Limited Parternship	81
#6	Siemens Energy, Inc.	71
#7	Safran Aircraft Engines	58
#8	Whirlpool Corporation	54
#9	Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.	50
#10	RTX Corporation	47
#11	Snecma	45
#12	Rolls-Royce Corporation	40
#13	MTU Aero Engines AG	39
#14	Kennametal Inc.	38
#15	Aktiebolaget SKF	31
#16	NSK Ltd.	31
#17	Baker Hughes Holdings LLC	30
#18	Lennox Industries Inc.	26
#19	Asia Vital Components Co., Ltd.	26
#20	Temper Axle Products Corporation	25

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B23P 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 B23P assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B23P. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B23P's 8,569-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B23P (#184 of 670 by volume ; lead share 4.3%) - not the B23 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

F16M 8,559 G05F 8,553 A47J 8,354 B01F 8,785

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B42D 4.3% G21K 4.3% H04L 4.3% B33Y 4.3%

Questions about B23P

Which company holds the most patents in B23P?

General Electric Company leads B23P with 368 patents (1.9% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 51% of class grants.

Which B23P assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B23P, RTX Corporation shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (662x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 662 in 2022–2024) while holding 47 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B23P compare inside parent class B23?

Inside B23 (Machine TOOLS; Metal-working NOT Otherwise Provided FOR), B23P ranks #2 of 9 subclasses by grant volume and holds 18.0% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B23K (21,060 grants).

What to do with this data

B23P in context - here's where to go next.

United Technologies Corporation leads B23P with 167 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B23P ranks #184 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 - B23P figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (8,569 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.