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CPC technology class · C10

C10L - Fuels

Fuels not otherwise provided for; natural gas; synthetic natural gas obtained by processes not covered by subclasses c10g or c10k; liquified petroleum gas; use of additives to fuels or fires; fire-lighters. 5,025 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

5,025
US patents granted
#2/10
in C10
18.4%
C10 class share
-25%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Fuels ranks #251 of 670 CPC technology areas - 5,025 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 25% over five years.

#251
of 670 CPC technology areas
5,025
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Saudi Arabian Oil
leading assignee (170)
-25%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C10L's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C10L recorded 1,903 grants versus 2,549 in 2015–2019 (-25% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2017 at 529 grants and bottomed in 2023 at 313 (+69% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Saudi Arabian OIL Company holds 3.4% of the class ; the top three share 7.6%.

Leaderboard read

C10L concentration, lead at 3.4%

Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads this historical grant record at 3.4% of C10L - us corporation assignees hold 61% of class grants (1,775 of 2,898). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
3.4%

170 of 5,025 grants

Top three share
7.6%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
59

more grants than Exxonmobil Research AND Engineering Company

Where C10L sits inside C10

Among 10 subclasses in C10 (Petroleum, GAS OR Coke INDUSTRIES; Technical Gases Containing Carbon MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; Peat), C10L ranks #2 and holds 18.4% of the parent class's 27,322 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

C10G 9,942 C10M 4,240 C10N 3,834 C10B 1,527 C10J 1,392 C10K 1,080 C10C 264 C10F 12

Rising assignees active in C10L

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 Exxon Mobil Technology and Engineering Company 298x 0 → 298 company-wide · 41 in C10L
  2. #2 Shell USA, Inc. 110x 0 → 110 company-wide · 19 in C10L
  3. #3 Totalenergies Onetech 65x 0 → 65 company-wide · 8 in C10L
  4. #4 Infinium Technology, LLC 16x 0 → 16 company-wide · 6 in C10L
  5. #5 ARQ IP Limited 7.00x 1 → 7 company-wide · 7 in C10L

C10L grants by year, peak 2017 (529)

US utility-patent grants per year in C10L, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 25% versus 2015–2019.

200300400500600 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 236

Who leads C10L?

The 12 most active assignees in Fuels NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Natural GAS; Synthetic Natural GAS Obtained BY Processes NOT Covered BY Subclasses C10g OR C10K; Liquified Petroleum GAS; USE OF Additives TO Fuels OR FIRES; Fire-lighters - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Saudi Arabian Oil is the most active filer in C10L, holding 170 of the 5,025 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 C10L
Rank Company Patents in C10L
#1 Saudi Arabian OIL Company 170
#2 Exxonmobil Research AND Engineering Company 111
#3 Shell OIL Compny 99
#4 UOP LLC 77
#5 Neste OYJ 74
#6 Xyleco, Inc. 71
#7 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company 59
#8 Chevron U.S.A. Inc. 58
#9 Afton Chemical Corporation 50
#10 Iogen Corporation 42
#11 Exxon Mobil Technology and Engineering Company 41
#12 IFP Energies Nouvelles 37
#13 The Lubrizol Corporation 37
#14 Innospec Limited 34
#15 L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude 33
#16 Phillips 66 Company 32
#17 Mawetal LLC 31
#18 Marathon Petroleum Company LP 27
#19 Carbon Technology Holdings, LLC 27
#20 Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. 23

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C10L 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 C10L assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C10L. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 121416182022 050100150200 Patents in C10L Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Saudi Arabian OilExxonmobil Research…Shell Oil CompnyUopNeste OyjXylecoExxonmobil Upstream…Chevron UAfton ChemicalIogenExxon Mobil Technology…Ifp Energies NouvellesThe LubrizolInnospec
Top 14 C10L assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C10L. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near C10L's 5,025-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for C10L (#251 of 670 by volume ; lead share 3.4%) - not the C10 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B05C 5,022 B62K 4,996 E04F 5,179 H03G 5,213

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B29C 3.4% F24S 3.4% E04G 3.3% A47B 3.4%

Questions about C10L

Which company holds the most patents in C10L?
Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads C10L with 170 patents (3.4% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 61% of class grants.
Which C10L assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C10L, Exxon Mobil Technology and Engineering Company shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (298x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 298 in 2022–2024) while holding 41 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does C10L compare inside parent class C10?
Inside C10 (Petroleum, GAS OR Coke INDUSTRIES; Technical Gases Containing Carbon MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; Peat), C10L ranks #2 of 10 subclasses by grant volume and holds 18.4% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C10G (9,942 grants).

What to do with this data

C10L in context - here's where to go next.

  • Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads C10L with 170 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • C10L ranks #251 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class C10, the largest sibling subclass is C10G with 9,942 grants. Explore C10G

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

Methodology - C10L figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (5,025 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.