PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B81

B81C - Processes Or Apparatus Specially Adapted For The Manufact…

Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment of microstructural devices or systems. 5,547 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

5,547
US patents granted
#2/2
in B81
45.2%
B81 class share
-34%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Processes Or Apparatus Specially Adapted For The Manufact… ranks #241 of 670 CPC technology areas - 5,547 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 34% over five years.

#241
of 670 CPC technology areas
5,547
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Taiwan Semiconductor…
leading assignee (467)
-34%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B81C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B81C recorded 2,023 grants versus 3,047 in 2015–2019 (-34% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2016 at 650 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 325 (+100% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. holds 8.4% of the class ; the top three share 15.0%.

Leaderboard read

B81C concentration, lead at 8.4%

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads this historical grant record at 8.4% of B81C - foreign corporation assignees hold 69% of class grants (1,681 of 2,447). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
8.4%

467 of 5,547 grants

Top three share
15.0%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
253

more grants than Infineon Technologies AG

Where B81C sits inside B81

Among 2 subclasses in B81 (Microstructural Technology), B81C ranks #2 and holds 45.2% 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.

B81B 6,733

Rising assignees active in B81C

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. #1 Adeia Semiconductor Bonding Technologies Inc. 90x 0 → 90 company-wide · 10 in B81C
  2. #2 Bfly Operations, Inc. 15x 7 → 104 company-wide · 22 in B81C
  3. #3 Skyworks Global PTE. Ltd. 13x 2 → 25 company-wide · 5 in B81C
  4. #4 Mems Drive (NANJING) Co., Ltd. 4.00x 3 → 12 company-wide · 5 in B81C
  5. #5 Exo Imaging, Inc. 3.89x 9 → 35 company-wide · 6 in B81C

B81C grants by year, peak 2016 (650)

US utility-patent grants per year in B81C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 34% versus 2015–2019.

100200300400500600700 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 220

Who leads B81C?

The 12 most active assignees in Processes OR Apparatus Specially Adapted FOR THE Manufacture OR Treatment OF Microstructural Devices OR Systems - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Taiwan Semiconductor… is the most active filer in B81C, holding 467 of the 5,547 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 B81C
Rank Company Patents in B81C
#1 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. 467
#2 Infineon Technologies AG 214
#3 InvenSense, Inc. 151
#4 STMicroelectronics SA 139
#5 Knowles Electronics, LLC 51
#6 Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation 50
#7 Freeescale Semiconductor, Inc. 45
#8 Cirrus Logic, Inc. 39
#9 Butterfly Network, Inc. 36
#10 United Microelectronics Corp. 35
#11 SiTime Corporation 34
#12 Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. 32
#13 mCube, Inc. 31
#14 Infineon Technologies Dresden GmbH & Co. KG 28
#15 Bfly Operations, Inc. 22
#16 Epcos AG 21
#17 X-Celeprint Limited 21
#18 Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corporation 17
#19 Nivarox-FAR S.A. 17
#20 Goertek Inc. 16

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading B81C 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 B81C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B81C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 10152025 0100200300400500 Patents in B81C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Taiwan Semiconductor…InfineonInvensenseStmicroelectronicsKnowlesSemiconductor…Freeescale Semiconduct…Cirrus LogicButterfly NetworkUnited Microelectronic…SitimeAdvanced Semiconductor…mcubeInfineon Dresden & Kg
Top 14 B81C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B81C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near B81C's 5,547-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B81C (#241 of 670 by volume ; lead share 8.4%) - not the B81 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

F02K 5,533 E05F 5,529 B64F 5,518 B29B 5,640

Nearest by lead-assignee share

A61G 8.4% A63F 8.4% B25H 8.4% H10H 8.4%

Questions about B81C

Which company holds the most patents in B81C?
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads B81C with 467 patents (8.4% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 69% of class grants.
Which B81C assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B81C, Adeia Semiconductor Bonding Technologies Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (90x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 90 in 2022–2024) while holding 10 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does B81C compare inside parent class B81?
Inside B81 (Microstructural Technology), B81C ranks #2 of 2 subclasses by grant volume and holds 45.2% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B81B (6,733 grants).

What to do with this data

B81C in context - here's where to go next.

  • Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads B81C with 467 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • B81C ranks #241 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class B81, the largest sibling subclass is B81B with 6,733 grants. Explore B81B

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

Methodology - B81C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (5,547 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.