CPC technology class · B61

B61H - Brakes Or Other Retarding Devices Specially Adapted For R…

Brakes or other retarding devices specially adapted for rail vehicles; arrangement or disposition thereof in rail vehicles. 502 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

502
US patents granted: #7/9
in B61: 6.2%
B61 class share: -12%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Brakes Or Other Retarding Devices Specially Adapted For R… ranks #544 of 670 CPC technology areas - 502 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 12% over five years.

#544
of 670 CPC technology areas: 502
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Westinghouse Air Brake
leading assignee (34): -12%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B61H's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B61H recorded 213 grants versus 242 in 2015–2019 (-12% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2018 at 61 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 32 (+91% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation holds 6.8% of the class ; the top three share 18.3%.

Leaderboard read

B61H concentration, lead at 6.8%

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation leads this historical grant record at 6.8% of B61H - us corporation assignees hold 56% of class grants (158 of 283). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 6.8%
Top three share: 18.3%
Lead over #2: 1

Where B61H sits inside B61

Among 9 subclasses in B61 (Railways), B61H ranks #7 and holds 6.2% of the parent class's 8,123 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B61L 2,671 B61D 1,451 B61B 961 B61C 870 B61F 797 B61K 506 B61G 314 B61J 51

Rising assignees active in B61H

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 Duplicent, LLC 15x 1 → 15 company-wide · 5 in B61H
#2 Faiveley Transport Italia S.P.A. 4.33x 6 → 26 company-wide · 10 in B61H
#3 Knorr-bremse Systeme FÜR Schienenfahrzeuge GMBH 1.46x 24 → 35 company-wide · 25 in B61H
#4 KYB Corporation 1.31x 64 → 84 company-wide · 12 in B61H
#5 Hyperloop Technologies, Inc. 1.21x 19 → 23 company-wide · 5 in B61H

B61H grants by year, peak 2018 (61)

US utility-patent grants per year in B61H, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 12% versus 2015–2019.

Westinghouse Air Brake

34
New York Air Brake

33
Knorr-bremse Systeme…

25
Wabtec Holding

15
Amsted Rail

14
Kyb

12
Faiveley Transport…

11
Faiveley Transport…

10
Akebono Brake Industry

7
Hyperloop

5
Crrc Qingdao Sifang…

5
Duplicent

5

What this shows Westinghouse Air Brake is the most active filer in B61H, holding 34 of the 502 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 B61H
Rank	Company	Patents in B61H
#1	Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation	34
#2	New York Air Brake LLC	33
#3	Knorr-bremse Systeme FÜR Schienenfahrzeuge GMBH	25
#4	Wabtec Holding Corp.	15
#5	Amsted Rail Company, Inc.	14
#6	KYB Corporation	12
#7	Faiveley Transport Amiens	11
#8	Faiveley Transport Italia S.P.A.	10
#9	Akebono Brake Industry Co., Ltd.	7
#10	Hyperloop Technologies, Inc.	5
#11	Crrc Qingdao Sifang Rolling Stock Research Institute Co., Ltd.	5
#12	Duplicent, LLC	5
#13	Railserve, Inc.	5
#14	Crrc Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd.	4
#15	Korea Railroad Research Institute	4
#16	Crrc Tangshan Co., Ltd.	4
#17	Fine Sinter Co., Ltd.	4
#18	JiMi IP, LLC	4
#19	Zipholdings, LLC	4
#20	Kelvin Thermal Energy Inc.	4

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B61H 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 B61H assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B61H. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B61H's 502-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B61H (#544 of 670 by volume ; lead share 6.8%) - not the B61 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B27G 503 B61K 506 C12C 506 B28C 511

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B24B 6.8% F23Q 6.8% G01Q 6.7% A23D 6.7%

Questions about B61H

Which company holds the most patents in B61H?

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation leads B61H with 34 patents (6.8% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 56% of class grants.

Which B61H assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B61H, Duplicent, LLC shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (15x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 15 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B61H compare inside parent class B61?

Inside B61 (Railways), B61H ranks #7 of 9 subclasses by grant volume and holds 6.2% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B61L (2,671 grants).

What to do with this data

B61H in context - here's where to go next.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation leads B61H with 34 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B61H ranks #544 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B61, the largest sibling subclass is B61L with 2,671 grants. Explore B61L

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

Methodology - B61H figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (502 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.