CPC technology class · B60

B60R - Vehicles

Vehicles, vehicle fittings, or vehicle parts, not otherwise provided for. 42,931 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

42,931
US patents granted: #1/19
in B60: 17.3%
B60 class share: +28%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Vehicles ranks #40 of 670 CPC technology areas - 42,931 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 28% over five years.

#40
of 670 CPC technology areas: 42,931
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Ford Global
leading assignee (3,270): +28%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B60R's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B60R recorded 20,457 grants versus 15,982 in 2015–2019 (+28% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 4,492 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 2,322 (+93% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Ford Global Technologies, LLC holds 7.6% of the class ; the top three share 14.7%.

Leaderboard read

B60R concentration, lead at 7.6%

Ford Global Technologies, LLC leads this historical grant record at 7.6% of B60R - foreign corporation assignees hold 63% of class grants (22,509 of 35,886). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 7.6%
Top three share: 14.7%
Lead over #2: 1,474

Where B60R sits inside B60

Among 19 subclasses in B60 (Vehicles IN General), B60R ranks #1 and holds 17.3% 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.

B60W 39,530 B60K 34,645 B60L 29,944 B60Y 14,131 B60Q 13,530 B60N 13,335 B60T 11,759 B60C 9,320

Rising assignees active in B60R

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 Mercedes-Benz Group AG 257x 0 → 257 company-wide · 37 in B60R
#2 HL Mando Corporation 212x 0 → 212 company-wide · 7 in B60R
#3 Kawasaki Motors, Ltd. 146x 0 → 146 company-wide · 11 in B60R
#4 Apollo Intelligent Driving Technology (BEIJING) Co., Ltd. 140x 0 → 140 company-wide · 7 in B60R
#5 NIO Technology (ANHUI) Co., Ltd 121x 0 → 121 company-wide · 16 in B60R

B60R grants by year, peak 2020 (4,492)

US utility-patent grants per year in B60R, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 28% versus 2015–2019.

Ford Global

3,270
Toyota Jidosha

1,796
Hyundai Motor

1,243
Honda Motor

1,168
Gm Global Technology…

1,072
Sumitomo Wiring…

1,013
Denso

890
Yazaki

825
Magna

779
Kia Motors

643
Sumitomo Electric…

576
Autonetworks

527

What this shows Ford Global is the most active filer in B60R, holding 3,270 of the 42,931 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 B60R
Rank	Company	Patents in B60R
#1	Ford Global Technologies, LLC	3,270
#2	Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha	1,796
#3	Hyundai Motor Company	1,243
#4	Honda Motor Co., Ltd.	1,168
#5	GM Global Technology Operations LLC	1,072
#6	Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd.	1,013
#7	Denso Corporation	890
#8	Yazaki Corporation	825
#9	Magna Electronics Inc.	779
#10	KIA Motors Corporation	643
#11	Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.	576
#12	Autonetworks Technologies, Ltd.	527
#13	Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.	510
#14	Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.	480
#15	Mitsubishi Electric Corporation	471
#16	Autoliv Development AB	459
#17	Robert Bosch GmbH	439
#18	Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.	380
#19	Magna Mirrors of America, Inc.	338
#20	KIA Corporation	332

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B60R 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 B60R assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B60R. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B60R's 42,931-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B60R (#40 of 670 by volume ; lead share 7.6%) - not the B60 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

G16H 42,899 B01D 43,096 Y02D 45,676 E21B 39,943

Nearest by lead-assignee share

H04W 7.6% B21B 7.7% G03H 7.6% B60Y 7.7%

Questions about B60R

Which company holds the most patents in B60R?

Ford Global Technologies, LLC leads B60R with 3,270 patents (7.6% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 63% of class grants.

Which B60R assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B60R, Mercedes-Benz Group AG shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (257x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 257 in 2022–2024) while holding 37 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B60R compare inside parent class B60?

Inside B60 (Vehicles IN General), B60R ranks #1 of 19 subclasses by grant volume and holds 17.3% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B60W (39,530 grants).

What to do with this data

B60R in context - here's where to go next.

Ford Global Technologies, LLC leads B60R with 3,270 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B60R ranks #40 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B60, the largest sibling subclass is B60W with 39,530 grants. Explore B60W

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

Methodology - B60R figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (42,931 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.