PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B60

B60C - Vehicle Tyres

Vehicle tyres; tyre inflation; tyre changing; connecting valves to inflatable elastic bodies in general; devices or arrangements related to tyres. 9,320 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

9,320
US patents granted
#9/19
in B60
3.8%
B60 class share
+1%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Vehicle Tyres ranks #176 of 670 CPC technology areas - 9,320 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 1% over five years.

#176
of 670 CPC technology areas
9,320
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Sumitomo Rubber Industries
leading assignee (1,090)
+1%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B60C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B60C recorded 4,078 grants versus 4,019 in 2015–2019 (+1% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 910 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 715 (+27% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. holds 11.7% of the class ; the top three share 30.9%.

Leaderboard read

B60C concentration, lead at 11.7%

Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. leads this historical grant record at 11.7% of B60C - foreign corporation assignees hold 79% of class grants (5,742 of 7,265). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
11.7%

1,090 of 9,320 grants

Top three share
30.9%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
161

more grants than Compagnie Generale DES Etablissements Michelin

Where B60C sits inside B60

Among 19 subclasses in B60 (Vehicles IN General), B60C ranks #9 and holds 3.8% of the parent class's 247,467 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B60R 42,931 B60W 39,530 B60K 34,645 B60L 29,944 B60Y 14,131 B60Q 13,530 B60N 13,335 B60T 11,759

Rising assignees active in B60C

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 Continental Automotive Technologies GmbH 54x 0 → 54 company-wide · 8 in B60C
  2. #2 Kraton Corporation 23x 1 → 23 company-wide · 5 in B60C
  3. #3 ExxonMobil Engineering & Technology Company 18x 0 → 18 company-wide · 8 in B60C
  4. #4 Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd. 17x 3 → 52 company-wide · 29 in B60C
  5. #5 Eneos Materials Corporation 12x 0 → 12 company-wide · 9 in B60C

B60C grants by year, peak 2020 (910)

US utility-patent grants per year in B60C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 1% versus 2015–2019.

5006007008009001,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 547

Who leads B60C?

The 12 most active assignees in Vehicle TYRES; Tyre INFLATION; Tyre CHANGING; Connecting Valves TO Inflatable Elastic Bodies IN GENERAL; Devices OR Arrangements Related TO Tyres - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Sumitomo Rubber… is the most active filer in B60C, holding 1,090 of the 9,320 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 B60C
Rank Company Patents in B60C
#1 Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. 1,090
#2 Compagnie Generale DES Etablissements Michelin 929
#3 Bridgestone Corporation 862
#4 The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. 761
#5 The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company 490
#6 Michelin Recherche ET Technique S.A. 323
#7 Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC 261
#8 Toyo Tire Corporation 223
#9 Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH 141
#10 Pirelli Tyre S.P.A. 136
#11 Continental Automotive GMBH 114
#12 Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. 96
#13 Continental Automotive France 75
#14 Fedex Corporate Services Inc. 53
#15 Dana Heavy Vehicle Systems Group, LLC 50
#16 Hankook Tire Co., Ltd. 48
#17 Continental Automotive Systems Inc. 45
#18 ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc. 44
#19 Pacific Industrial Co., Ltd. 43
#20 Magna Electronics Inc. 31

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B60C 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 B60C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B60C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 01020304050 050010001500 Patents in B60C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Sumitomo Rubber…Compagnie Generale…BridgestoneThe Yokohama RubberThe Goodyear Tire &…Michelin Recherche Et…Bridgestone Americas…Toyo TireContinental Reifen…Pirelli Tyre S P AContinental AutomotiveToyo Tire & RubberContinental Automotive…Fedex Corporate…
Top 14 B60C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B60C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B60C's 9,320-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B60C (#176 of 670 by volume ; lead share 11.7%) - not the B60 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

A47L 9,460 E05B 9,176 A23V 9,116 B08B 9,052

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B61F 11.7% G10H 11.7% B65F 11.8% H05G 11.8%

Questions about B60C

Which company holds the most patents in B60C?
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. leads B60C with 1,090 patents (11.7% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 79% of class grants.
Which B60C assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B60C, Continental Automotive Technologies GmbH shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (54x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 54 in 2022–2024) while holding 8 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does B60C compare inside parent class B60?
Inside B60 (Vehicles IN General), B60C ranks #9 of 19 subclasses by grant volume and holds 3.8% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B60R (42,931 grants).

What to do with this data

B60C in context - here's where to go next.

  • Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. leads B60C with 1,090 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • B60C ranks #176 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class B60, the largest sibling subclass is B60R with 42,931 grants. Explore B60R

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

Methodology - B60C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (9,320 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.