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 filing trajectory.
- 976
- US patents granted
- C01
- Parent CPC class
- 20
- Active assignees
- +38%
- 5-yr velocity
CPC subclass C01D — COMPOUNDS OF ALKALI METALS, i.e. LITHIUM, SODIUM, POTASSIUM, RUBIDIUM, CAESIUM, OR FRANCIUM — covers 976 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records. This subclass sits within the broader CPC class C01 (INORGANIC CHEMISTRY), one of roughly 250 top-level technology categories in the Cooperative Patent Classification system jointly maintained by the USPTO and the European Patent Office. At the subclass level, four-character codes like C01D give the most practical resolution for tracking a specific technology domain without losing sight of adjacent filings. Every grant here has been classified by a USPTO examiner based on the technical disclosure in the patent specification.
The competitive landscape in C01D is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. NEMASKA LITHIUM INC. leads with 22 patents, followed by NEMASKA LITHIUM INC. at 25 grants and Mangrove Water Technologies LTD. at 15. Concentration at the top of the leaderboard indicates whether this technology area is dominated by a handful of incumbents or fragmented across many filers — a useful signal for investors evaluating competitive moats and for product teams mapping freedom-to-operate risk.
Filing trajectory matters as much as static counts. The yearly series on this page plots grants from 2015 through 2025, highlighting whether innovation in C01D is accelerating, plateauing, or cooling. Technology areas with rising post-2020 activity often reflect emerging markets or new platform shifts, while declining filings can signal mature domains where incremental improvement has slowed. Researchers, licensing professionals, and competitive-intelligence teams use these patterns — together with the top-assignee distribution — to decide where to invest, where to license, and where to avoid entanglement. All counts on this page come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.
Is C01D innovation accelerating?
US utility-patent grants per year in C01D, 2015–2025 — recent five years are up 38% versus 2015–2019.
Who leads C01D?
The 12 most active assignees in COMPOUNDS OF ALKALI METALS, i.e. LITHIUM, SODIUM, POTASSIUM, RUBIDIUM, CAESIUM, OR FRANCIUM — wider bars mean more grants
- Solvay
SOLVAY SA
164 patents
- Nemaska Lithium 25
NEMASKA LITHIUM INC.
25 patents
- Mangrove Water 15
Mangrove Water Technologies LTD.
15 patents
- Research Institute Of…
RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
72 patents
- Worcester Polytechnic…
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
150 patents
- Heartbeet 8
HEARTBEET LTD.
8 patents
- Lilac Solutions 26
LILAC SOLUTIONS, INC.
26 patents
- Veolia Water 22
Veolia Water Technologies, Inc.
22 patents
- Terralithium 13
TERRALITHIUM LLC
13 patents
- Innovator Energy 26
INNOVATOR ENERGY LLC.
26 patents
- Rockwood Lithium 16
ROCKWOOD LITHIUM GMBH
16 patents
- Orbite 10
ORBITE TECHNOLOGIES INC.
10 patents
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
| Rank | Company | Patents in C01D |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | SOLVAY SA | 164 |
| #2 | NEMASKA LITHIUM INC. | 25 |
| #3 | Mangrove Water Technologies LTD. | 15 |
| #4 | RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | 72 |
| #5 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | 150 |
| #6 | HEARTBEET LTD. | 8 |
| #7 | LILAC SOLUTIONS, INC. | 26 |
| #8 | Veolia Water Technologies, Inc. | 22 |
| #9 | TERRALITHIUM LLC | 13 |
| #10 | INNOVATOR ENERGY LLC. | 26 |
| #11 | ROCKWOOD LITHIUM GMBH | 16 |
| #12 | ORBITE TECHNOLOGIES INC. | 10 |
| #13 | Li-Cycle Corp. | 6 |
| #14 | UMICORE | 138 |
| #15 | ALBEMARLE GERMANY GMBH | 23 |
| #16 | Simbol, Inc. | 11 |
| #17 | Solvay Advanced Polymers, L.L.C. | 8 |
| #18 | Wildcat Discovery Technologies, Inc. | 62 |
| #19 | FLUID ENERGY GROUP LTD. | 32 |
| #20 | Avantama AG | 24 |
About This Class
CPC subclass C01D belongs to class C01.
976 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CPC class C01D?
How many patents have been filed in C01D?
Which company holds the most patents in C01D?
How is patent data for C01D collected?
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
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Explore the patent dataset
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.