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 grant trajectory.

23,042
US patents granted
#1/2
in B82
98.0%
B82 class share
-12%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Specific Uses Or Applications Of Nanostructures ranks #88 of 670 CPC technology areas - 23,042 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 12% over five years.

#88
of 670 CPC technology areas
23,042
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Taiwan Semiconductor…
leading assignee (1,724)
-12%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How B82Y's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, B82Y recorded 9,062 grants versus 10,256 in 2015–2019 (-12% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2015 at 2,796 grants and bottomed in 2018 at 1,484 (+88% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. holds 7.5% of the class ; the top three share 14.1%.

Leaderboard read

B82Y concentration, lead at 7.5%

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads this historical grant record at 7.5% of B82Y - us corporation assignees hold 50% of class grants (7,289 of 14,600). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
7.5%

1,724 of 23,042 grants

Top three share
14.1%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
668

more grants than International Business Machines Corporation

Where B82Y sits inside B82

Among 2 subclasses in B82 (Nanotechnology), B82Y ranks #1 and holds 98.0% of the parent class's 23,511 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

B82B 469

Rising assignees active in B82Y

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 King Faisal University 125x 6 → 747 company-wide · 27 in B82Y
  2. #2 Imam Mohammad IBN Saud Islamic University 27x 0 → 27 company-wide · 13 in B82Y
  3. #3 Nautilus Subsidiary, Inc. 14x 0 → 14 company-wide · 5 in B82Y
  4. #4 Postech Research and Business Development Foundation 14x 7 → 97 company-wide · 11 in B82Y
  5. #5 HDT Bio Corp. 13x 0 → 13 company-wide · 14 in B82Y

B82Y grants by year, peak 2015 (2,796)

US utility-patent grants per year in B82Y, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 12% 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

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

Classes near B82Y's 23,042-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for B82Y (#88 of 670 by volume ; lead share 7.5%) - not the B82 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B29L 23,135 C08F 23,159 B29K 22,850 H10N 23,338

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B27N 7.5% B21F 7.5% C23C 7.4% F01P 7.5%

Questions about B82Y

Which company holds the most patents in B82Y?
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads B82Y with 1,724 patents (7.5% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 50% of class grants.
Which B82Y assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in B82Y, King Faisal University shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (125x: 6 grants in 2019–2021 → 747 in 2022–2024) while holding 27 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does B82Y compare inside parent class B82?
Inside B82 (Nanotechnology), B82Y ranks #1 of 2 subclasses by grant volume and holds 98.0% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is B82B (469 grants).

What to do with this data

B82Y in context - here's where to go next.

  • Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. leads B82Y with 1,724 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • B82Y ranks #88 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class B82, the largest sibling subclass is B82B with 469 grants. Explore B82B

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

Methodology - B82Y figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (23,042 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.