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CPC technology class · B64

B64C - Aeroplanes

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

17,186
US patents granted
B64
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+75%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Aeroplanes ranks #110 of 670 CPC technology areas - 17,186 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 75% over five years.

#110
of 670 CPC technology areas
17,186
US patents granted, 2015–2025
The Boeing
leading assignee (2,268)
+75%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: The Boeing Company (2,268 patents)

CPC subclass B64C - AEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS - covers 17,186 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B64 (AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B64C is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. The Boeing Company leads with 2,268 patents, followed by Airbus Operations Limited at 1,292 grants and Textron Innovations Inc. at 892.

Filing activity in B64C is up 75% 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 B64C innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B64C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 75% versus 2015–2019.

5001,0001,5002,0002,500 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 1,403

Who leads B64C?

The 12 most active assignees in AEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS - wider bars mean more grants

patents

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.

Source USPTO PatentsView, granted utility patents As of 2015–2025 grant years
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

About This Class

CPC subclass B64C belongs to class B64.

17,186 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 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).

Top 14 B64C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B64C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 10121416182022 05001000150020002500 Patents in B64C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) The BoeingAirbus OperationsTextron InnovationsAirbus Operations SasGoodrichBell Helicopter Textr…Sikorsky AircraftAirbus HelicoptersBeta AirHamilton Sundstrand (…Safran Aircraft Engin…Kitty HawkAirbus Helicopters De…Lockheed Martin
Top 14 B64C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B64C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B64C?
CPC subclass B64C covers AEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS. It belongs to CPC class B64 (AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS), with 17,186 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B64C?
17,186 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B64C between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B64C?
The Boeing Company leads B64C with 2,268 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B64C 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., B64) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B64C 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.