PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B81

B81B - Microstructural Devices OR Systems

Microstructural devices or systems, e.g. micromechanical devices. 6,733 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

6,733
US patents granted
B81
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
-1%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Microstructural Devices OR Systems ranks #213 of 670 CPC technology areas - 6,733 US patents granted since 2015, with filing down 1% over five years.

#213
of 670 CPC technology areas
6,733
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Taiwan Semiconductor…
leading assignee (433)
-1%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (433 patents)

CPC subclass B81B - MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS, e.g. MICROMECHANICAL DEVICES - covers 6,733 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B81 (MICROSTRUCTURAL TECHNOLOGY). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B81B is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads with 433 patents, followed by Robert Bosch Gmbh at 370 grants and Infineon Technologies Ag at 282.

Filing activity in B81B is down 1% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a relatively steady filing pace. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is B81B innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B81B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 1% versus 2015–2019.

300400500600700800 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 353

Who leads B81B?

The 12 most active assignees in MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS, e.g. MICROMECHANICAL DEVICES - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Taiwan Semiconductor… is the most active filer in B81B, holding 433 of the 6,733 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 B81B
Rank Company Patents in B81B
#1 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. 433
#2 Robert Bosch Gmbh 370
#3 Infineon Technologies Ag 282
#4 Stmicroelectronics Sa 233
#5 Invensense, Inc. 214
#6 Commissariat A L'energie Atomique ET AUX Energies Alternatives 109
#7 Knowles Electronics, Llc 107
#8 Hamamatsu Photonics K.k. 74
#9 Analog Devices, Inc. 69
#10 Cirrus Logic, Inc. 59
#11 NXP USA, Inc. 51
#12 Freeescale Semiconductor, Inc. 51
#13 Semiconductor Manufacturing International (shanghai) Corporation 51
#14 AAC Acoustic Technologies (shenzhen) Co., Ltd. 48
#15 Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. 39
#16 Sitime Corporation 35
#17 United Microelectronics Corp. 34
#18 Butterfly Network, Inc. 34
#19 Mcube, Inc. 31
#20 Qorvo US, Inc. 29

About This Class

CPC subclass B81B belongs to class B81.

6,733 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 B81B 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 B81B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B81B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B81B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B81B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 0100200300400500 Patents in B81B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Taiwan Semiconductor…Robert BoschInfineonStmicroelectronicsInvensenseCommissariat A L'ener…KnowlesHamamatsu Photonics K…Analog DevicesCirrus LogicNxp UsaFreeescale Semiconduc…Semiconductor Manufac…Aac Acoustic (Shenzhe…
Top 14 B81B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B81B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B81B?
CPC subclass B81B covers MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS, e.g. MICROMECHANICAL DEVICES. It belongs to CPC class B81 (MICROSTRUCTURAL TECHNOLOGY), with 6,733 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B81B?
6,733 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B81B between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B81B?
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads B81B with 433 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B81B 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., B81) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B81B 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.