CPC technology class · B64

B64C - Aeroplanes

Aeroplanes; helicopters. 17,186 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

17,186
US patents granted: #2/6
in B64: 29.4%
B64 class share: +52%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Aeroplanes ranks #110 of 670 CPC technology areas - 17,186 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 52% over five years.

#110
of 670 CPC technology areas: 17,186
US patents granted, 2015–2025: The Boeing
leading assignee (2,268): +52%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B64C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B64C recorded 9,216 grants versus 6,056 in 2015–2019 (+52% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2024 at 2,056 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 1,016 (+102% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee The Boeing Company holds 13.2% of the class ; the top three share 25.9%.

Leaderboard read

B64C concentration, lead at 13.2%

The Boeing Company leads this historical grant record at 13.2% of B64C - us corporation assignees hold 58% of class grants (7,880 of 13,546). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 13.2%
Top three share: 25.9%
Lead over #2: 976

Where B64C sits inside B64

Among 6 subclasses in B64 (AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; Cosmonautics), B64C ranks #2 and holds 29.4% of the parent class's 58,451 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B64D 21,967 B64U 10,226 B64F 5,518 B64G 2,994 B64B 560

Rising assignees active in B64C

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 Beta AIR LLC 61x 6 → 367 company-wide · 238 in B64C
#2 Archer Aviation Inc. 44x 0 → 44 company-wide · 67 in B64C
#3 Workhorse Group Inc. 26x 2 → 52 company-wide · 22 in B64C
#4 JetZero, Inc. 23x 0 → 23 company-wide · 37 in B64C
#5 Autoflight (KUNSHAN) Co., Ltd. 20x 0 → 20 company-wide · 6 in B64C

B64C grants by year, peak 2024 (2,056)

US utility-patent grants per year in B64C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 52% versus 2015–2019.

The Boeing

2,268
Airbus Operations

1,292
Textron Innovations

892
Airbus Operations Sas

586
Goodrich

533
Bell Helicopter…

466
Sikorsky Aircraft

405
Airbus Helicopters

340
Beta Air

238
Hamilton Sundstrand…

181
Safran Aircraft…

171
Kitty Hawk

171

What this shows The Boeing is the most active filer in B64C, holding 2,268 of the 17,186 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 B64C
Rank	Company	Patents in B64C
#1	The Boeing Company	2,268
#2	Airbus Operations Limited	1,292
#3	Textron Innovations Inc.	892
#4	Airbus Operations SAS	586
#5	Goodrich Corporation	533
#6	Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.	466
#7	Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation	405
#8	Airbus Helicopters	340
#9	Beta AIR LLC	238
#10	Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation (HSC)	181
#11	Safran Aircraft Engines	171
#12	Kitty Hawk Corporation	171
#13	Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GMBH	171
#14	Lockheed Martin Corporation	159
#15	SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd.	157
#16	Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.	153
#17	AeroVironment, Inc.	130
#18	Safran Landing Systems	127
#19	Bombardier Inc.	108
#20	Rolls-royce plc	106

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B64C 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 B64C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B64C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B64C's 17,186-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B64C (#110 of 670 by volume ; lead share 13.2%) - not the B64 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

C12Y 17,214 B65G 17,344 F02D 16,949 H04J 16,888

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B27G 13.1% E02F 13.3% G04B 13.0% G04G 13.4%

Questions about B64C

Which company holds the most patents in B64C?

The Boeing Company leads B64C with 2,268 patents (13.2% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 58% of class grants.

Which B64C assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B64C, Beta AIR LLC shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (61x: 6 grants in 2019–2021 → 367 in 2022–2024) while holding 238 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B64C compare inside parent class B64?

Inside B64 (AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; Cosmonautics), B64C ranks #2 of 6 subclasses by grant volume and holds 29.4% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B64D (21,967 grants).

What to do with this data

B64C in context - here's where to go next.

The Boeing Company leads B64C with 2,268 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B64C ranks #110 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B64, the largest sibling subclass is B64D with 21,967 grants. Explore B64D

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

Methodology - B64C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (17,186 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.