PlainPatent

CPC technology class · C03

C03B - Manufacture

Manufacture, shaping, or supplementary processes. 4,651 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

4,651
US patents granted
C03
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+8%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Manufacture ranks #256 of 670 CPC technology areas - 4,651 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 8% over five years.

#256
of 670 CPC technology areas
4,651
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Corning Incorporated
leading assignee (1,040)
+8%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Corning Incorporated (1,040 patents)

CPC subclass C03B - MANUFACTURE, SHAPING, OR SUPPLEMENTARY PROCESSES - covers 4,651 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class C03 (GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in C03B is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Corning Incorporated leads with 1,040 patents, followed by Schott Ag at 171 grants and Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd. at 143.

Filing activity in C03B is up 8% 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 C03B innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in C03B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 8% versus 2015–2019.

250300350400450500 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 295

Who leads C03B?

The 12 most active assignees in MANUFACTURE, SHAPING, OR SUPPLEMENTARY PROCESSES - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Corning Incorporated is the most active filer in C03B, holding 1,040 of the 4,651 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 C03B
Rank Company Patents in C03B
#1 Corning Incorporated 1,040
#2 Schott Ag 171
#3 Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd. 143
#4 Owens-brockway Glass Container Inc. 116
#5 Heraeus Quarzglas Gmbh & Co. KG 104
#6 AGC Inc. 82
#7 Saint-gobain Glass France 79
#8 Johns Manville 69
#9 Fujikura Ltd. 56
#10 Ivoclar Vivadent Ag 40
#11 Saint-gobain Isover 38
#12 Sumco Corporation 35
#13 Glasstech, Inc. 35
#14 HOYA Corporation 34
#15 Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. 34
#16 Hamamatsu Photonics K.k. 30
#17 OFS Fitel, Llc 27
#18 Draka Comteq B.v. 27
#19 Saint-gobain Centre DE Recherches ET D'etudes Europeen 24
#20 NKT Photonics A/s 22

About This Class

CPC subclass C03B belongs to class C03.

4,651 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 C03B 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 C03B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C03B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 C03B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C03B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 5101520 -500050010001500 Patents in C03B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Corning IncorporatedSchottNippon Electric GlassOwens-brockway Glass…Heraeus Quarzglas & KgAgcSaint-gobain Glass Fr…Johns ManvilleFujikuraIvoclar VivadentSaint-gobain IsoverSumcoGlasstechHoya
Top 14 C03B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C03B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class C03B?
CPC subclass C03B covers MANUFACTURE, SHAPING, OR SUPPLEMENTARY PROCESSES. It belongs to CPC class C03 (GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL), with 4,651 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in C03B?
4,651 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass C03B between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in C03B?
Corning Incorporated leads C03B with 1,040 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for C03B 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., C03) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like C03B 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.