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 filing trajectory.
- 34,645
- US patents granted
- B60
- Parent CPC class
- 20
- Active assignees
- +39%
- 5-yr velocity
CPC subclass B60K — 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 — covers 34,645 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records. This subclass sits within the broader CPC class B60 (VEHICLES IN GENERAL), one of roughly 250 top-level technology categories in the Cooperative Patent Classification system jointly maintained by the USPTO and the European Patent Office. At the subclass level, four-character codes like B60K give the most practical resolution for tracking a specific technology domain without losing sight of adjacent filings. Every grant here has been classified by a USPTO examiner based on the technical disclosure in the patent specification.
The competitive landscape in B60K is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA leads with 2,885 patents, followed by Ford Global Technologies, LLC at 18,527 grants and HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY at 15,033. Concentration at the top of the leaderboard indicates whether this technology area is dominated by a handful of incumbents or fragmented across many filers — a useful signal for investors evaluating competitive moats and for product teams mapping freedom-to-operate risk.
Filing trajectory matters as much as static counts. The yearly series on this page plots grants from 2015 through 2025, highlighting whether innovation in B60K is accelerating, plateauing, or cooling. Technology areas with rising post-2020 activity often reflect emerging markets or new platform shifts, while declining filings can signal mature domains where incremental improvement has slowed. Researchers, licensing professionals, and competitive-intelligence teams use these patterns — together with the top-assignee distribution — to decide where to invest, where to license, and where to avoid entanglement. All counts on this page come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.
Is B60K innovation accelerating?
US utility-patent grants per year in B60K, 2015–2025 — recent five years are up 39% versus 2015–2019.
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
- Toyota Jidosha
TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
21,526 patents
- Ford Global
Ford Global Technologies, LLC
18,527 patents
- Hyundai Motor
HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
15,033 patents
- Honda Motor
HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
12,454 patents
- Kia Motors 7,264
KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
7,264 patents
- Gm Global Technology…
GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
11,736 patents
- Denso
DENSO CORPORATION
9,480 patents
- Audi 2,738
AUDI AG
2,738 patents
- Nissan Motor 3,456
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
3,456 patents
- Kia 3,712
KIA CORPORATION
3,712 patents
- Bayerische Motoren We… 3,749
Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
3,749 patents
- Zf Friedrichshafen 1,756
ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AG
1,756 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.
View data table
| Rank | Company | Patents in B60K |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA | 21,526 |
| #2 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | 18,527 |
| #3 | HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY | 15,033 |
| #4 | HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD. | 12,454 |
| #5 | KIA MOTORS CORPORATION | 7,264 |
| #6 | GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC | 11,736 |
| #7 | DENSO CORPORATION | 9,480 |
| #8 | AUDI AG | 2,738 |
| #9 | Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. | 3,456 |
| #10 | KIA CORPORATION | 3,712 |
| #11 | Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft | 3,749 |
| #12 | ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AG | 1,756 |
| #13 | VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT | 2,307 |
| #14 | Deere & Company | 3,926 |
| #15 | Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG | 2,548 |
| #16 | KUBOTA CORPORATION | 1,340 |
| #17 | SUBARU CORPORATION | 1,977 |
| #18 | MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION | 1,922 |
| #19 | TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC. | 3,200 |
| #20 | YAZAKI CORPORATION | 3,264 |
About This Class
CPC subclass B60K belongs to class B60.
34,645 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.
20 companies actively patent in this space.
Classification System
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system used by the USPTO and EPO.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CPC class B60K?
How many patents have been filed in B60K?
Which company holds the most patents in B60K?
How is patent data for B60K collected?
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
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Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.