CPC technology class · B67

B67C - Cleaning

Cleaning, filling with liquids or semiliquids, or emptying, of bottles, jars, cans, casks, barrels, or similar containers, not otherwise provided for; funnels. 1,069 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

1,069
US patents granted: #2/3
in B67: 18.1%
B67 class share: +10%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Cleaning ranks #450 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,069 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 10% over five years.

#450
of 670 CPC technology areas: 1,069
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Krones
leading assignee (166): +10%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B67C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B67C recorded 524 grants versus 477 in 2015–2019 (+10% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2018 at 113 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 80 (+41% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Krones AG holds 15.5% of the class ; the top three share 37.1%.

Leaderboard read

B67C concentration, lead at 15.5%

Krones AG leads this historical grant record at 15.5% of B67C - foreign corporation assignees hold 82% of class grants (650 of 795). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 15.5%
Top three share: 37.1%
Lead over #2: 4

Where B67C sits inside B67

Among 3 subclasses in B67 (Opening, Closing ; OR CLEANING; Bottles, Jars OR Similar CONTAINERS; Liquid Handling), B67C ranks #2 and holds 18.1% of the parent class's 5,921 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B67D 4,233 B67B 619

Rising assignees active in B67C

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 Craft Standard Enterprises, Inc. 8.00x 0 → 8 company-wide · 5 in B67C
#2 SMI S.P.A. 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 5 in B67C
#3 Sodastream Industries Ltd. 2.13x 8 → 17 company-wide · 6 in B67C
#4 Ronchi Mario S.P.A. 2.00x 2 → 4 company-wide · 6 in B67C
#5 Sacmi Cooperativa Meccanici Imola Societa' Cooperativa 1.79x 28 → 50 company-wide · 8 in B67C

B67C grants by year, peak 2018 (113)

US utility-patent grants per year in B67C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 10% versus 2015–2019.

Krones

166
Khs

162
Dai Nippon Printing

69
Sidel Participations S

27
Co2pac

24
Pepsico

15
Sidel S P A Con Socio…

14
Serac Group

11
Graham Packaging

10
Fogg Filler

10
Discma

9
Cornerstone Cm

9

What this shows Krones is the most active filer in B67C, holding 166 of the 1,069 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 B67C
Rank	Company	Patents in B67C
#1	Krones AG	166
#2	KHS GmbH	162
#3	Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.	69
#4	Sidel Participations S.A.S	27
#5	Co2pac Limited	24
#6	PepsiCo, Inc.	15
#7	Sidel S.P.A. CON Socio Unico	14
#8	Serac Group	11
#9	Graham Packaging Company, L.P.	10
#10	Fogg Filler Company, LLC	10
#11	Discma AG	9
#12	Cornerstone CM, Inc.	9
#13	GEA Procomac S.p.A.	9
#14	Sacmi Cooperativa Meccanici Imola Societa' Cooperativa	8
#15	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machinery Systems, Ltd.	7
#16	Shibuya Corporation	7
#17	Leibinger GmbH	7
#18	SIG Technology AG	6
#19	Sodastream Industries Ltd.	6
#20	Brand GMBH & Co KG	6

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B67C 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 B67C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B67C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B67C's 1,069-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B67C (#450 of 670 by volume ; lead share 15.5%) - not the B67 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

F23G 1,073 A47D 1,075 C10K 1,080 F23J 1,082

Nearest by lead-assignee share

A44B 15.4% F01D 15.7% B25D 15.3% G09G 15.8%

Questions about B67C

Which company holds the most patents in B67C?

Krones AG leads B67C with 166 patents (15.5% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 82% of class grants.

Which B67C assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B67C, Craft Standard Enterprises, Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (8.00x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 8 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does B67C compare inside parent class B67?

Inside B67 (Opening, Closing ; OR CLEANING; Bottles, Jars OR Similar CONTAINERS; Liquid Handling), B67C ranks #2 of 3 subclasses by grant volume and holds 18.1% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B67D (4,233 grants).

What to do with this data

B67C in context - here's where to go next.

Krones AG leads B67C with 166 grants in this class. See full portfolio
B67C ranks #450 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class B67, the largest sibling subclass is B67D with 4,233 grants. Explore B67D

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

Methodology - B67C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,069 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.