CPC technology class · C03
C03C — Chemical Composition OF Glasses
Chemical composition of glasses, glazes or vitreous enamels; surface treatment of glass; surface treatment of fibres or filaments made from glass, minerals or slags; joining glass to glass or other materials. 8,986 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.
- 8,986
- US patents granted
- C03
- Parent CPC class
- 20
- Active assignees
- +24%
- 5-yr velocity
CPC subclass C03C — CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS — covers 8,986 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records. This subclass sits within the broader CPC class C03 (GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL), 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 C03C 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 C03C is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. CORNING INCORPORATED leads with 1,507 patents, followed by Schott AG at 594 grants and AGC INC. at 988. 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 C03C 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 C03C innovation accelerating?
US utility-patent grants per year in C03C, 2015–2025 — recent five years are up 24% versus 2015–2019.
Who leads C03C?
The 12 most active assignees in CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS — wider bars mean more grants
- Corning Incorporated
CORNING INCORPORATED
3,494 patents
- Schott 594
Schott AG
594 patents
- Agc 988
AGC INC.
988 patents
- Saint-gobain Glass Fr… 820
SAINT-GOBAIN GLASS FRANCE
820 patents
- Nippon Electric Glass 363
NIPPON ELECTRIC GLASS CO., LTD.
363 patents
- Guardian Glass 251
Guardian Glass, LLC
251 patents
- Asahi Glass 411
ASAHI GLASS CO., LTD.
411 patents
- Agc Glass Europe 235
AGC GLASS EUROPE
235 patents
- Guardian Industries 152
Guardian Industries Corp.
152 patents
- Hoya 718
HOYA CORPORATION
718 patents
- Nippon Sheet Glass 199
NIPPON SHEET GLASS COMPANY, LIMITED
199 patents
- Pilkington Group 144
Pilkington Group Limited
144 patents
What this shows Corning Incorporated is the most active filer in C03C, holding 1,507 of the 8,986 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 C03C |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | CORNING INCORPORATED | 3,494 |
| #2 | Schott AG | 594 |
| #3 | AGC INC. | 988 |
| #4 | SAINT-GOBAIN GLASS FRANCE | 820 |
| #5 | NIPPON ELECTRIC GLASS CO., LTD. | 363 |
| #6 | Guardian Glass, LLC | 251 |
| #7 | ASAHI GLASS CO., LTD. | 411 |
| #8 | AGC GLASS EUROPE | 235 |
| #9 | Guardian Industries Corp. | 152 |
| #10 | HOYA CORPORATION | 718 |
| #11 | NIPPON SHEET GLASS COMPANY, LIMITED | 199 |
| #12 | Pilkington Group Limited | 144 |
| #13 | Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc. | 367 |
| #14 | Ivoclar Vivadent AG | 370 |
| #15 | Vitro Flat Glass LLC | 79 |
| #16 | HERAEUS QUARZGLAS GMBH & CO. KG | 125 |
| #17 | Johns Manville | 383 |
| #18 | View, Inc. | 389 |
| #19 | PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. | 586 |
| #20 | SAINT-GOBAIN ISOVER | 122 |
About This Class
CPC subclass C03C belongs to class C03.
8,986 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 C03C?
How many patents have been filed in C03C?
Which company holds the most patents in C03C?
How is patent data for C03C collected?
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
Learn More
Explore the patent dataset
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.