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CPC technology class · B61

B61D - BODY Details OR Kinds OF Railway Vehicles

Body details or kinds of railway vehicles. 1,451 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

1,451
US patents granted
B61
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+34%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

BODY Details OR Kinds OF Railway Vehicles ranks #409 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,451 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 34% over five years.

#409
of 670 CPC technology areas
1,451
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Kawasaki Jukogyo
leading assignee (57)
+34%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (57 patents)

CPC subclass B61D - BODY DETAILS OR KINDS OF RAILWAY VEHICLES - covers 1,451 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B61 (RAILWAYS). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B61D is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha leads with 57 patents, followed by Alstom Transport Technologies at 46 grants and Trinity RAIL Group, Llc at 38.

Filing activity in B61D is up 34% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a sharp acceleration suggesting an emerging or fast-moving technology area. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is B61D innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B61D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 34% versus 2015–2019.

6080100120140160180 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 83

Who leads B61D?

The 12 most active assignees in BODY DETAILS OR KINDS OF RAILWAY VEHICLES - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Kawasaki Jukogyo is the most active filer in B61D, holding 57 of the 1,451 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 B61D
Rank Company Patents in B61D
#1 Siemens Mobility Gmbh 46
#2 Alstom Transport Technologies 46
#3 Trinity RAIL Group, Llc 38
#4 CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd. 33
#5 National Steel Car Limited 30
#6 Gunderson Llc 28
#7 Bombardier Transportation Gmbh 25
#8 Trinity North American Freight CAR, Inc. 23
#9 Nabtesco Corporation 22
#10 JAC Operations, Inc. 17
#11 Standard CAR Truck Company 15
#12 Koito Electric Industries, Ltd 13
#13 Nippon Sharyo, Ltd. 12
#14 Berkshire Grey Operating Company, Inc. 11
#15 Speedinnov 11
#16 Union Tank Car Company 11
#17 Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation 10
#18 Safran Seats USA Llc 10
#19 Hübner Gmbh & Co. KG 10
#20 Siemens Mobility Austria Gmbh 10

About This Class

CPC subclass B61D belongs to class B61.

1,451 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.

← All Technology Classes Technology Rankings →

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B61D 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 B61D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B61D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B61D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B61D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 010203040 01020304050 Patents in B61D Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Siemens MobilityAlstom TransportTrinity Rail GroupCrrc Qingdao SifangNational Steel CarGundersonBombardier Transporta…Trinity North America…NabtescoJac OperationsStandard Car TruckKoito Electric Indust…Nippon SharyoBerkshire Grey Operat…
Top 14 B61D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B61D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B61D?
CPC subclass B61D covers BODY DETAILS OR KINDS OF RAILWAY VEHICLES. It belongs to CPC class B61 (RAILWAYS), with 1,451 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B61D?
1,451 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B61D between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B61D?
Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha leads B61D with 57 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B61D collected?
Patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It covers all US granted utility patents and assigns CPC codes based on the technology described in each patent.
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
A CPC class (e.g., B61) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B61D provide finer granularity within that category. PlainPatent organizes data at the subclass level (4-character codes) for the most useful view of technology domains.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent Editorial

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.