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 grant trajectory.
- 6,733
- US patents granted
- #1/2
- in B81
- 54.8%
- B81 class share
- -12%
- 5-yr velocity
The verdict
According to USPTO PatentsView, Microstructural Devices Or Systems ranks #213 of 670 CPC technology areas - 6,733 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 12% over five years.
- #213
- of 670 CPC technology areas
- 6,733
- US patents granted, 2015–2025
- Taiwan Semiconductor…
- leading assignee (433)
- -12%
- grant velocity, last 5 yrs
How B81B's grant cadence moved
Between 2020–2024, B81B recorded 2,858 grants versus 3,257 in 2015–2019 (-12% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 722 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 490 (+47% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. holds 6.4% of the class ; the top three share 16.1%.
Leaderboard read
B81B concentration, lead at 6.4%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads this historical grant record at 6.4% of B81B - foreign corporation assignees hold 64% of class grants (2,467 of 3,861). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.
- Leader's share
- 6.4%
- Top three share
- 16.1%
- Lead over #2
- 63
433 of 6,733 grants
of the class's recorded grants
more grants than Robert Bosch GmbH
Where B81B sits inside B81
Among 2 subclasses in B81 (Microstructural Technology), B81B ranks #1 and holds 54.8% of the parent class's 12,280 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.
Rising assignees active in B81B
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 Adeia Semiconductor Bonding Technologies Inc. 90x 0 → 90 company-wide · 8 in B81B
- #2 AAC Kaitai Technologies (Wuhan) Co., Ltd 20x 0 → 20 company-wide · 5 in B81B
- #3 Bfly Operations, Inc. 15x 7 → 104 company-wide · 22 in B81B
- #4 Skyworks Global PTE. Ltd. 13x 2 → 25 company-wide · 7 in B81B
- #5 Frore Systems Inc. 9.75x 4 → 39 company-wide · 9 in B81B
B81B grants by year, peak 2020 (722)
US utility-patent grants per year in B81B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 12% versus 2015–2019.
Who leads B81B?
The 12 most active assignees in Microstructural Devices OR Systems, e.g. Micromechanical Devices - wider bars mean more grants
- Taiwan Semiconductor…
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.
433 patents
- Robert Bosch
Robert Bosch GmbH
370 patents
- Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG
282 patents
- Stmicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics SA
233 patents
- Invensense
InvenSense, Inc.
214 patents
- Commissariat A… 109
Commissariat A L'energie Atomique ET AUX Energies Alternatives
109 patents
- Knowles 107
Knowles Electronics, LLC
107 patents
- Hamamatsu Photonics K… 74
Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.
74 patents
- Analog Devices 69
Analog Devices, Inc.
69 patents
- Cirrus Logic 59
Cirrus Logic, Inc.
59 patents
- Nxp Usa 51
NXP USA, Inc.
51 patents
- Freeescale Semiconduct… 51
Freeescale Semiconductor, Inc.
51 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.
View data table
| 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 |
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.
Classes near B81B's 6,733-grant footprint
Nationwide nearest neighbors for B81B (#213 of 670 by volume ; lead share 6.4%) - not the B81 parent-class siblings above.
Nearest by grant volume
Questions about B81B
Which company holds the most patents in B81B?
Which B81B assignees grew fastest recently?
How does B81B compare inside parent class B81?
What to do with this data
B81B in context - here's where to go next.
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads B81B with 433 grants in this class. See full portfolio
- B81B ranks #213 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
- Inside parent class B81, the largest sibling subclass is B81C with 5,547 grants. Explore B81C
Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through 2026-05-15; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.
Methodology - B81B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (6,733 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.