PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B60

B60K - Arrangement Or Mounting Of Propulsion Units Or Of Transmi…

Arrangement or mounting of propulsion units or of transmissions in vehicles; arrangement or mounting of plural diverse prime-movers in vehicles; auxiliary drives for vehicles; instrumentation or dashboards for vehicles; arrangements in connection with cooling, air intake, gas exhaust or fuel supply . 34,645 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

34,645
US patents granted
#3/19
in B60
14.0%
B60 class share
+21%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Arrangement Or Mounting Of Propulsion Units Or Of Transmi… ranks #51 of 670 CPC technology areas - 34,645 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 21% over five years.

#51
of 670 CPC technology areas
34,645
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Toyota Jidosha
leading assignee (2,885)
+21%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B60K's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B60K recorded 16,230 grants versus 13,408 in 2015–2019 (+21% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2022 at 3,389 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 2,254 (+50% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha holds 8.3% of the class ; the top three share 19.9%.

Leaderboard read

B60K concentration, lead at 8.3%

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha leads this historical grant record at 8.3% of B60K - foreign corporation assignees hold 70% of class grants (20,381 of 29,284). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
8.3%

2,885 of 34,645 grants

Top three share
19.9%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
755

more grants than Ford Global Technologies, LLC

Where B60K sits inside B60

Among 19 subclasses in B60 (Vehicles IN General), B60K ranks #3 and holds 14.0% 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 B60L 29,944 B60Y 14,131 B60Q 13,530 B60N 13,335 B60T 11,759 B60C 9,320

Rising assignees active in B60K

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 Mercedes-Benz Group AG 257x 0 → 257 company-wide · 74 in B60K
  2. #2 Huawei Digital Power Technologies Co., Ltd. 245x 0 → 245 company-wide · 20 in B60K
  3. #3 HL Mando Corporation 212x 0 → 212 company-wide · 5 in B60K
  4. #4 Kawasaki Motors, Ltd. 146x 0 → 146 company-wide · 49 in B60K
  5. #5 NIO Technology (ANHUI) Co., Ltd 121x 0 → 121 company-wide · 7 in B60K

B60K grants by year, peak 2022 (3,389)

US utility-patent grants per year in B60K, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 21% versus 2015–2019.

2,0002,5003,0003,500 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 2,419

Who leads B60K?

The 12 most active assignees in Arrangement OR Mounting OF Propulsion Units OR OF Transmissions IN VEHICLES; Arrangement OR Mounting OF Plural Diverse Prime-movers IN VEHICLES; Auxiliary Drives FOR VEHICLES; Instrumentation OR Dashboards FOR VEHICLES; Arrangements IN Connection With Cooling, AIR Intake, GAS Exhaust OR Fuel Supply - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Toyota Jidosha is the most active filer in B60K, holding 2,885 of the 34,645 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 B60K
Rank Company Patents in B60K
#1 Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha 2,885
#2 Ford Global Technologies, LLC 2,130
#3 Hyundai Motor Company 1,865
#4 Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 1,447
#5 KIA Motors Corporation 940
#6 GM Global Technology Operations LLC 836
#7 Denso Corporation 701
#8 Audi AG 511
#9 Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. 461
#10 KIA Corporation 410
#11 Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft 404
#12 ZF Friedrichshafen AG 383
#13 Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft 346
#14 Deere & Company 321
#15 Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG 321
#16 Kubota Corporation 321
#17 Subaru Corporation 308
#18 Mazda Motor Corporation 297
#19 Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. 273
#20 Yazaki Corporation 236

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B60K 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 B60K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B60K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 681012141618 01000200030004000 Patents in B60K Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Toyota JidoshaFord GlobalHyundai MotorHonda MotorKia MotorsGm Global Technology…DensoAudiNissan MotorKiaBayerische Motoren…Zf FriedrichshafenVolkswagen Aktiengesel…Deere &
Top 14 B60K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B60K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B60K's 34,645-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B60K (#51 of 670 by volume ; lead share 8.3%) - not the B60 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

Y02B 34,811 H02M 33,952 G10L 35,471 H01R 35,523

Nearest by lead-assignee share

H04M 8.3% A62B 8.3% F41B 8.3% B63G 8.3%

Questions about B60K

Which company holds the most patents in B60K?
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha leads B60K with 2,885 patents (8.3% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 70% of class grants.
Which B60K assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B60K, Mercedes-Benz Group AG shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (257x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 257 in 2022–2024) while holding 74 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does B60K compare inside parent class B60?
Inside B60 (Vehicles IN General), B60K ranks #3 of 19 subclasses by grant volume and holds 14.0% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B60R (42,931 grants).

What to do with this data

B60K in context - here's where to go next.

  • Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha leads B60K with 2,885 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • B60K ranks #51 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 - B60K figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (34,645 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.