PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B29

B29B - Preparation Or Pretreatment Of The Material To Be Shaped

Preparation or pretreatment of the material to be shaped; making granules or preforms; recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics. 5,640 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

5,640
US patents granted
#5/5
in B29
4.9%
B29 class share
+13%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Preparation Or Pretreatment Of The Material To Be Shaped ranks #240 of 670 CPC technology areas - 5,640 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 13% over five years.

#240
of 670 CPC technology areas
5,640
US patents granted, 2015–2025
The Boeing
leading assignee (101)
+13%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B29B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B29B recorded 2,629 grants versus 2,329 in 2015–2019 (+13% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 570 grants and bottomed in 2016 at 399 (+43% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Toray Industries, Inc. holds 1.6% of the class ; the top three share 4.2%.

Leaderboard read

B29B concentration, lead at 1.6%

Toray Industries, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 1.6% of B29B - foreign corporation assignees hold 65% of class grants (1,797 of 2,774). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
1.6%

92 of 5,640 grants

Top three share
4.2%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
20

more grants than Safran Aircraft Engines

Where B29B sits inside B29

Among 5 subclasses in B29 (Working OF PLASTICS; Working OF Substances IN A Plastic State IN General), B29B ranks #5 and holds 4.9% of the parent class's 116,272 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B29C 53,431 B29L 23,135 B29K 22,850 B29D 11,216

Rising assignees active in B29B

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 Mighty Buildings, Inc. 11x 2 → 21 company-wide · 5 in B29B
  2. #2 Continuus Materials Intellectual Property, LLC 9.00x 1 → 9 company-wide · 6 in B29B
  3. #3 PulPac AB 8.00x 1 → 8 company-wide · 6 in B29B
  4. #4 Afros S.P.A. 6.00x 1 → 6 company-wide · 11 in B29B
  5. #5 Shibaura Machine Co., Ltd. 5.50x 6 → 33 company-wide · 15 in B29B

B29B grants by year, peak 2020 (570)

US utility-patent grants per year in B29B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 13% versus 2015–2019.

350400450500550600 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 377

Who leads B29B?

The 12 most active assignees in Preparation OR Pretreatment OF THE Material TO BE SHAPED; Making Granules OR PREFORMS; Recovery OF Plastics OR Other Constituents OF Waste Material Containing Plastics - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows The Boeing is the most active filer in B29B, holding 101 of the 5,640 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 B29B
Rank Company Patents in B29B
#1 Toray Industries, Inc. 92
#2 Safran Aircraft Engines 72
#3 Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation 71
#4 Continuous Composites Inc. 48
#5 Compagnie Generale DES Etablissements Michelin 44
#6 Sabic Global Technologies B.V. 42
#7 Snecma 41
#8 Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH 41
#9 Nordson Corporation 37
#10 Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation 37
#11 Kobe Steel Ltd. 34
#12 Purdue Pharma L.P. 33
#13 Purdue Pharmaceuticals L.P. 32
#14 THE Japan Steel Works, Ltd. 31
#15 Erema Engineering Recycling Maschinen UND Anlagen Gesellschaft, M.B.H. 29
#16 Unicharm Corporation 27
#17 Safran 27
#18 Yoshino Kogyosho Co., Ltd. 27
#19 Ticona LLC 27
#20 Cytec Industries, Inc. 25

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B29B 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 B29B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B29B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 20406080100 Patents in B29B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Toray IndustriesSafran Aircraft…Mitsubishi ChemicalContinuous CompositesCompagnie Generale…Sabic Global B VSnecmaContinental Reifen…NordsonAladdin ManufacturingKobe SteelPurdue PharmaPurdue PharmaceuticalsThe Japan Steel Works
Top 14 B29B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B29B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B29B's 5,640-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B29B (#240 of 670 by volume ; lead share 1.8%) - not the B29 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B81C 5,547 F02K 5,533 E05F 5,529 B64F 5,518

Nearest by lead-assignee share

C25B 1.8% C12Q 1.8% E04B 1.8% C01B 1.8%

Questions about B29B

Which company holds the most patents in B29B?
The Boeing Company leads B29B with 101 patents (1.6% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 65% of class grants.
Which B29B assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B29B, Mighty Buildings, Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (11x: 2 grants in 2019–2021 → 21 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does B29B compare inside parent class B29?
Inside B29 (Working OF PLASTICS; Working OF Substances IN A Plastic State IN General), B29B ranks #5 of 5 subclasses by grant volume and holds 4.9% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B29C (53,431 grants).

What to do with this data

B29B in context - here's where to go next.

  • Toray Industries, Inc. leads B29B with 92 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • B29B ranks #240 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class B29, the largest sibling subclass is B29C with 53,431 grants. Explore B29C

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

Methodology - B29B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (5,640 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.