CPC technology class · C01

C01D - Compounds Of Alkali Metals

Compounds of alkali metals, i.e. lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, or francium. 976 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

976
US patents granted: #5/6
in C01: 2.2%
C01 class share: +15%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Compounds Of Alkali Metals ranks #462 of 670 CPC technology areas - 976 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 15% over five years.

#462
of 670 CPC technology areas: 976
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Nemaska Lithium
leading assignee (22): +15%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C01D's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C01D recorded 427 grants versus 370 in 2015–2019 (+15% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2024 at 96 grants and bottomed in 2016 at 69 (+39% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Solvay SA holds 2.3% of the class ; the top three share 5.5%.

Leaderboard read

C01D concentration, lead at 2.3%

Solvay SA leads this historical grant record at 2.3% of C01D - foreign corporation assignees hold 64% of class grants (203 of 317). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 2.3%
Top three share: 5.5%
Lead over #2: 0

Where C01D sits inside C01

Among 6 subclasses in C01 (Inorganic Chemistry), C01D ranks #5 and holds 2.2% 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.

C01B 20,252 C01P 12,347 C01G 6,857 C01F 2,333 C01C 735

Rising assignees active in C01D

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 Mangrove Water Technologies Ltd. 12x 0 → 12 company-wide · 10 in C01D
#2 Lilac Solutions, Inc. 4.50x 4 → 18 company-wide · 7 in C01D
#3 Innovator Energy LLC. 2.29x 7 → 16 company-wide · 6 in C01D
#4 Research Institute OF Industrial Science & Technology 2.20x 15 → 33 company-wide · 9 in C01D
#5 Terralithium LLC 1.20x 5 → 6 company-wide · 7 in C01D

C01D grants by year, peak 2024 (96)

US utility-patent grants per year in C01D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 15% versus 2015–2019.

Solvay

22
Nemaska Lithium

22
Mangrove Water

10
Research Institute Of…

9
Worcester Polytechnic…

8
Heartbeet

8
Lilac Solutions

7
Veolia Water

7
Terralithium

7
Innovator Energy

6
Rockwood Lithium

6
Orbite

6

What this shows Nemaska Lithium is the most active filer in C01D, holding 22 of the 976 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

View data table

Top patent holders in CPC subclass C01D
Rank	Company	Patents in C01D
#1	Solvay SA	22
#2	Nemaska Lithium Inc.	22
#3	Mangrove Water Technologies Ltd.	10
#4	Research Institute OF Industrial Science & Technology	9
#5	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	8
#6	Heartbeet Ltd.	8
#7	Lilac Solutions, Inc.	7
#8	Veolia Water Technologies, Inc.	7
#9	Terralithium LLC	7
#10	Innovator Energy LLC.	6
#11	Rockwood Lithium GMBH	6
#12	Orbite Technologies Inc.	6
#13	Li-Cycle Corp.	6
#14	Umicore	5
#15	Albemarle Germany GMBH	5
#16	Simbol, Inc.	5
#17	Solvay Advanced Polymers, L.L.C.	5
#18	Wildcat Discovery Technologies, Inc.	4
#19	Fluid Energy Group Ltd.	4
#20	Avantama AG	4

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C01D 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 C01D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C01D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near C01D's 976-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for C01D (#462 of 670 by volume ; lead share 2.3%) - not the C01 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

A41B 979 A23F 971 E01B 981 E01H 971

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B26D 2.3% C08G 2.3% F23G 2.2% H01S 2.3%

Questions about C01D

Which company holds the most patents in C01D?

Nemaska Lithium Inc. leads C01D with 22 patents (2.3% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 64% of class grants.

Which C01D assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C01D, Mangrove Water Technologies Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (12x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 12 in 2022–2024) while holding 10 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does C01D compare inside parent class C01?

Inside C01 (Inorganic Chemistry), C01D ranks #5 of 6 subclasses by grant volume and holds 2.2% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C01B (20,252 grants).

What to do with this data

C01D in context - here's where to go next.

Solvay SA leads C01D with 22 grants in this class. See full portfolio
C01D ranks #462 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class C01, the largest sibling subclass is C01B with 20,252 grants. Explore C01B

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

Methodology - C01D figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (976 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.