CPC technology class · B60

B60D - Vehicle Connections

Vehicle connections. 1,802 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

1,802
US patents granted: #16/19
in B60: 0.7%
B60 class share: +67%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Vehicle Connections ranks #380 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,802 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 67% over five years.

#380
of 670 CPC technology areas: 1,802
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Ford Global
leading assignee (221): +67%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B60D's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B60D recorded 1,021 grants versus 611 in 2015–2019 (+67% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2023 at 233 grants and bottomed in 2016 at 105 (+122% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Horizon Global Americas Inc. holds 4.3% of the class ; the top three share 7.4%.

Leaderboard read

B60D concentration, lead at 4.3%

Horizon Global Americas Inc. leads this historical grant record at 4.3% of B60D - us corporation assignees hold 75% of class grants (525 of 704). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 4.3%
Top three share: 7.4%
Lead over #2: 41

Where B60D sits inside B60

Among 19 subclasses in B60 (Vehicles IN General), B60D ranks #16 and holds 0.7% 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 B60D

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 Continental Autonomous Mobility US, LLC 47x 0 → 47 company-wide · 13 in B60D
#2 Outrider Technologies, Inc. 13x 1 → 13 company-wide · 15 in B60D
#3 ZF CV Systems Europe BV 5.00x 25 → 125 company-wide · 7 in B60D
#4 U-haul International, Inc. 4.50x 2 → 9 company-wide · 6 in B60D
#5 Ideal Warehouse Innovations Inc. 3.00x 2 → 6 company-wide · 5 in B60D

B60D grants by year, peak 2023 (233)

US utility-patent grants per year in B60D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 67% versus 2015–2019.

Horizon Global…

77
Saf-holland

36
Westfalia-automotive

21
Stabilock

17
Weigh Safe

17
Hall Labs

15
Outrider

15
Acps Automotive

15
Curt Manufacturing

14
Cequent Performance…

14
Continental Autonomous…

13
B &W Custom Truck Beds

13

What this shows Ford Global is the most active filer in B60D, holding 221 of the 1,802 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 B60D
Rank	Company	Patents in B60D
#1	Horizon Global Americas Inc.	77
#2	SAF-Holland, Inc.	36
#3	Westfalia-Automotive GMBH	21
#4	Stabilock, LLC	17
#5	Weigh Safe, LLC	17
#6	Hall Labs LLC	15
#7	Outrider Technologies, Inc.	15
#8	Acps Automotive GmbH	15
#9	Curt Manufacturing, LLC	14
#10	Cequent Performance Products, Inc.	14
#11	Continental Autonomous Mobility US, LLC	13
#12	B &W Custom Truck Beds, Inc.	13
#13	Jost-werke Deutschland GMBH	13
#14	Grote Industries, Inc.	12
#15	Progress Mfg. Inc.	12
#16	Scambia Holdings Cyprus Limited	11
#17	HÜBNER GmbH & Co. KG	10
#18	Paccar Inc	9
#19	Methode Electronics, Inc.	9
#20	Agco Corporation	8

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B60D 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 B60D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B60D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B60D's 1,802-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B60D (#380 of 670 by volume ; lead share 12.3%) - not the B60 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

A24B 1,799 B21J 1,805 G01W 1,805 A43C 1,793

Nearest by lead-assignee share

H01G 12.3% D21F 12.4% G06G 12.1% F42C 12.4%

Questions about B60D

Which company holds the most patents in B60D?

Ford Global Technologies, LLC leads B60D with 221 patents (4.3% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 75% of class grants.

Which B60D assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B60D, Continental Autonomous Mobility US, LLC shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (47x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 47 in 2022–2024) while holding 13 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B60D compare inside parent class B60?

Inside B60 (Vehicles IN General), B60D ranks #16 of 19 subclasses by grant volume and holds 0.7% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B60R (42,931 grants).

What to do with this data

B60D in context - here's where to go next.

Horizon Global Americas Inc. leads B60D with 77 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B60D ranks #380 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 - B60D figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,802 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.