PlainPatent

CPC technology class · C01

C01B - Non-metallic Elements

Non-metallic elements; compounds thereof; ; metalloids or compounds thereof not covered by subclass c01c. 20,252 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

20,252
US patents granted
#1/6
in C01
46.6%
C01 class share
-3%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Non-metallic Elements ranks #102 of 670 CPC technology areas - 20,252 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 3% over five years.

#102
of 670 CPC technology areas
20,252
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Saudi Arabian Oil
leading assignee (357)
-3%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C01B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C01B recorded 8,285 grants versus 8,566 in 2015–2019 (-3% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 1,877 grants and bottomed in 2022 at 1,559 (+20% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Saudi Arabian OIL Company holds 1.8% of the class ; the top three share 3.7%.

Leaderboard read

C01B concentration, lead at 1.8%

Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads this historical grant record at 1.8% of C01B - foreign corporation assignees hold 64% of class grants (7,737 of 12,015). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
1.8%

357 of 20,252 grants

Top three share
3.7%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
141

more grants than Basf SE

Where C01B sits inside C01

Among 6 subclasses in C01 (Inorganic Chemistry), C01B ranks #1 and holds 46.6% of the parent class's 43,500 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

C01P 12,347 C01G 6,857 C01F 2,333 C01D 976 C01C 735

Rising assignees active in C01B

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 LG Energy Solution, Ltd. 770x 2 → 1,539 company-wide · 77 in C01B
  2. #2 Exxon Mobil Technology and Engineering Company 298x 0 → 298 company-wide · 36 in C01B
  3. #3 SK On Co., Ltd. 243x 0 → 243 company-wide · 5 in C01B
  4. #4 Resonac Corporation 192x 0 → 192 company-wide · 18 in C01B
  5. #5 Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp. 144x 0 → 144 company-wide · 7 in C01B

C01B grants by year, peak 2019 (1,877)

US utility-patent grants per year in C01B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 3% versus 2015–2019.

1,2001,4001,6001,8002,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 1,365

Who leads C01B?

The 12 most active assignees in Non-metallic ELEMENTS; Compounds THEREOF; ; Metalloids OR Compounds Thereof NOT Covered BY Subclass C01c - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Saudi Arabian Oil is the most active filer in C01B, holding 357 of the 20,252 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 C01B
Rank Company Patents in C01B
#1 Saudi Arabian OIL Company 357
#2 Basf SE 216
#3 L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude 172
#4 Chevron U.S.A. Inc. 159
#5 Tsinghua University 150
#6 HON HAI Precision Industry Co., Ltd. 135
#7 King Fahd University OF Petroleum AND Minerals 131
#8 Exxonmobil Research AND Engineering Company 116
#9 Wacker Chemie AG 116
#10 Centre National DE LA Recherche Scientifique 112
#11 Haldor TOPSØE A/S 107
#12 UOP LLC 99
#13 Shin-etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. 96
#14 Korea Institute OF Science AND Technology 94
#15 Praxair Technology, Inc. 91
#16 Johnson Matthey Public Limited Company 88
#17 Northwestern University 82
#18 LG Energy Solution, Ltd. 77
#19 National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology 74
#20 Tokuyama Corporation 74

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C01B 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 C01B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C01B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 101214161820 0100200300400 Patents in C01B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Saudi Arabian OilBasf SeL'air Liquide Societe…Chevron UTsinghua UniversityHon Hai Precision…King Fahd University…Exxonmobil Research…Wacker ChemieCentre National De La…Haldor TopsØE A/SUopShin-etsu ChemicalKorea Institute Of…
Top 14 C01B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C01B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near C01B's 20,252-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for C01B (#102 of 670 by volume ; lead share 1.8%) - not the C01 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B33Y 19,922 Y10S 20,857 G07C 20,919 B23K 21,060

Nearest by lead-assignee share

F16K 1.8% B29B 1.8% C25B 1.8% C12Q 1.8%

Questions about C01B

Which company holds the most patents in C01B?
Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads C01B with 357 patents (1.8% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 64% of class grants.
Which C01B assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C01B, LG Energy Solution, Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (770x: 2 grants in 2019–2021 → 1,539 in 2022–2024) while holding 77 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does C01B compare inside parent class C01?
Inside C01 (Inorganic Chemistry), C01B ranks #1 of 6 subclasses by grant volume and holds 46.6% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C01P (12,347 grants).

What to do with this data

C01B in context - here's where to go next.

  • Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads C01B with 357 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • C01B ranks #102 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class C01, the largest sibling subclass is C01P with 12,347 grants. Explore C01P

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

Methodology - C01B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (20,252 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.