PlainPatent

CPC technology class · B82

B82Y - Specific USES OR Applications OF Nanostructures

Specific uses or applications of nanostructures; measurement or analysis of nanostructures; manufacture or treatment of nanostructures. 23,042 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

23,042
US patents granted
B82
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+5%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Specific USES OR Applications OF Nanostructures ranks #88 of 670 CPC technology areas - 23,042 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 5% over five years.

#88
of 670 CPC technology areas
23,042
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Taiwan Semiconductor…
leading assignee (1,724)
+5%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (1,724 patents)

CPC subclass B82Y - SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES - covers 23,042 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class B82 (NANOTECHNOLOGY). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in B82Y is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads with 1,724 patents, followed by International Business Machines Corporation at 1,056 grants and Intel Corporation at 466.

Filing activity in B82Y is up 5% 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 B82Y innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in B82Y, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 5% versus 2015–2019.

1,0001,5002,0002,5003,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 1,664

Who leads B82Y?

The 12 most active assignees in SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Taiwan Semiconductor… is the most active filer in B82Y, holding 1,724 of the 23,042 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 B82Y
Rank Company Patents in B82Y
#1 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. 1,724
#2 International Business Machines Corporation 1,056
#3 Intel Corporation 466
#4 The Regents Of The University Of California 315
#5 Tsinghua University 241
#6 HON HAI Precision Industry Co., Ltd. 237
#7 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology 207
#8 Commissariat A L'energie Atomique ET AUX Energies Alternatives 171
#9 Northwestern University 152
#10 Globalfoundries Inc. 120
#11 Centre National DE LA Recherche Scientifique 111
#12 The Board Of Regents Of The University Of Texas System 109
#13 President And Fellows Of Harvard College 109
#14 United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force 105
#15 The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University 96
#16 California Institute OF Technology 96
#17 Monolithic 3D Inc. 91
#18 Tokyo Electron Limited 85
#19 ASML Netherlands B.v. 82
#20 Korea Institute OF Science AND Technology 82

About This Class

CPC subclass B82Y belongs to class B82.

23,042 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 B82Y 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 B82Y assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B82Y. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 B82Y assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B82Y. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 121416182022 0500100015002000 Patents in B82Y Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Taiwan Semiconductor…International Busines…IntelThe Regents of the Un…Tsinghua UniversityHon Hai Precision Ind…Massachusetts Institu…Commissariat A L'ener…Northwestern Universi…GlobalfoundriesCentre National De La…The Board of Regents…President and Fellows…United States of Amer…
Top 14 B82Y assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in B82Y. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class B82Y?
CPC subclass B82Y covers SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES. It belongs to CPC class B82 (NANOTECHNOLOGY), with 23,042 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in B82Y?
23,042 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass B82Y between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in B82Y?
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads B82Y with 1,724 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for B82Y 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., B82) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like B82Y 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.