CPC technology class · B26

B26B - Hand-held Cutting Tools

Hand-held cutting tools not otherwise provided for. 2,460 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

2,460
US patents granted: #2/3
in B26: 31.4%
B26 class share: +34%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Hand-held Cutting Tools ranks #347 of 670 CPC technology areas - 2,460 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 34% over five years.

#347
of 670 CPC technology areas: 2,460
US patents granted, 2015–2025: The Gillette
leading assignee (266): +34%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B26B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B26B recorded 1,294 grants versus 967 in 2015–2019 (+34% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2022 at 289 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 148 (+95% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee The Gillette Company LLC holds 10.8% of the class ; the top three share 25.5%.

Leaderboard read

B26B concentration, lead at 10.8%

The Gillette Company LLC leads this historical grant record at 10.8% of B26B - us corporation assignees hold 55% of class grants (1,011 of 1,827). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 10.8%
Top three share: 25.5%
Lead over #2: 22

Where B26B sits inside B26

Among 3 subclasses in B26 (Hand Cutting TOOLS; CUTTING; Severing), B26B ranks #2 and holds 31.4% of the parent class's 7,844 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B26D 3,757 B26F 1,627

Rising assignees active in B26B

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 BIC Violex Single Member S.A. 65x 0 → 65 company-wide · 62 in B26B
#2 Leaf Shave Company 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 6 in B26B
#3 Rolling Razor, Inc 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 6 in B26B
#4 AOB Products Company 3.82x 11 → 42 company-wide · 7 in B26B
#5 Techtronic Cordless GP 3.48x 42 → 146 company-wide · 5 in B26B

B26B grants by year, peak 2022 (289)

US utility-patent grants per year in B26B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 34% versus 2015–2019.

The Gillette

266
Koniniklijke Philips

244
Bic-violex

118
The Braun

82
Dorco

70
Bic Violex Single…

62
May Patents

43
Bettcher Industries

38
Shavelogic

35
Andis

27
Gb Ii

26
Wahl Clipper

25

What this shows The Gillette is the most active filer in B26B, holding 266 of the 2,460 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 B26B
Rank	Company	Patents in B26B
#1	The Gillette Company LLC	266
#2	Koniniklijke Philips N.V.	244
#3	Bic-violex SA	118
#4	The Braun Corporation	82
#5	Dorco Co., Ltd.	70
#6	BIC Violex Single Member S.A.	62
#7	May Patents Ltd.	43
#8	Bettcher Industries, Inc.	38
#9	Shavelogic, Inc.	35
#10	Andis Company	27
#11	GB II Corporation	26
#12	Wahl Clipper Corporation	25
#13	Hangzhou Great Star Industrial Co., Ltd.	21
#14	Fiskars Brands, Inc.	21
#15	Slice, Inc.	21
#16	Pacific Handy Cutter, Inc.	21
#17	Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.	20
#18	Microtech Knives, Inc.	20
#19	Martor KG	20
#20	Hangzhou Great Star Tools Co., Ltd.	19

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B26B 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 B26B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B26B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B26B's 2,460-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B26B (#347 of 670 by volume ; lead share 10.8%) - not the B26 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

G04G 2,450 A42B 2,474 C09C 2,483 G21C 2,434

Nearest by lead-assignee share

C12C 10.9% E21F 10.9% G02F 10.7% E01C 10.9%

Questions about B26B

Which company holds the most patents in B26B?

The Gillette Company LLC leads B26B with 266 patents (10.8% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 55% of class grants.

Which B26B assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B26B, BIC Violex Single Member S.A. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (65x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 65 in 2022–2024) while holding 62 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B26B compare inside parent class B26?

Inside B26 (Hand Cutting TOOLS; CUTTING; Severing), B26B ranks #2 of 3 subclasses by grant volume and holds 31.4% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B26D (3,757 grants).

What to do with this data

B26B in context - here's where to go next.

The Gillette Company LLC leads B26B with 266 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B26B ranks #347 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B26, the largest sibling subclass is B26D with 3,757 grants. Explore B26D

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

Methodology - B26B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (2,460 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.