PlainPatent

CPC technology class · C12

C12M - Apparatus For Enzymology Or Microbiology

Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology; apparatus for culturing microorganisms for producing biomass, for growing cells or for obtaining fermentation or metabolic products, i.e. bioreactors or fermenters. 8,154 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

8,154
US patents granted
#5/12
in C12
5.6%
C12 class share
+41%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Apparatus For Enzymology Or Microbiology ranks #190 of 670 CPC technology areas - 8,154 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 41% over five years.

#190
of 670 CPC technology areas
8,154
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Life
leading assignee (110)
+41%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C12M's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C12M recorded 3,969 grants versus 2,823 in 2015–2019 (+41% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2024 at 916 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 478 (+92% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Life Technologies Corporation holds 1.3% of the class ; the top three share 3.3%.

Leaderboard read

C12M concentration, lead at 1.3%

Life Technologies Corporation leads this historical grant record at 1.3% of C12M - us corporation assignees hold 59% of class grants (2,385 of 4,071). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
1.3%

110 of 8,154 grants

Top three share
3.3%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
26

more grants than Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH

Where C12M sits inside C12

Among 12 subclasses in C12 (BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; Mutation OR Genetic Engineering), C12M ranks #5 and holds 5.6% of the parent class's 144,620 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

C12N 68,530 C12Q 32,189 C12Y 17,214 C12P 13,948 C12R 3,107 C12C 506 C12G 389 C12H 386

Rising assignees active in C12M

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 · 15 in C12M
  2. #2 Evident Corporation 48x 0 → 48 company-wide · 8 in C12M
  3. #3 Upside Foods, Inc. 23x 1 → 23 company-wide · 23 in C12M
  4. #4 Eppendorf SE 19x 0 → 19 company-wide · 7 in C12M
  5. #5 Cytiva US LLC 14x 0 → 14 company-wide · 7 in C12M

C12M grants by year, peak 2024 (916)

US utility-patent grants per year in C12M, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 41% versus 2015–2019.

4005006007008009001,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 673

Who leads C12M?

The 12 most active assignees in Apparatus FOR Enzymology OR MICROBIOLOGY; Apparatus FOR Culturing Microorganisms FOR Producing Biomass, FOR Growing Cells OR FOR Obtaining Fermentation OR Metabolic Products, i.e. Bioreactors OR Fermenters - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Life is the most active filer in C12M, holding 110 of the 8,154 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 C12M
Rank Company Patents in C12M
#1 Life Technologies Corporation 110
#2 Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH 84
#3 Global Life Sciences Solutions USA LLC 75
#4 President and Fellows of Harvard College 73
#5 Inscripta Inc. 70
#6 FloDesign Sonics, Inc. 64
#7 Emulate, Inc. 61
#8 EMD Millipore Corporation 57
#9 Xyleco, Inc. 57
#10 Biomerieux, Inc. 52
#11 Terumo BCT, Inc. 47
#12 Nikon Corporation 46
#13 GE Healthcare Bio-Science AB 41
#14 Becton, Dickinson and Company 37
#15 Repligen Corporation 34
#16 BD Kiestra B.V. 33
#17 Cytiva Sweden AB 32
#18 The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. 31
#19 Toyo Seikan Co., Ltd. 31
#20 Shimadzu Corporation 29

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C12M 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 C12M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C12M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 10152025 20406080100120 Patents in C12M Avg claims / patent (company-wide) LifeSartorius Stedim…Global Life Sciences…President and Fellows…InscriptaFlodesign SonicsEmulateEmd MilliporeXylecoBiomerieuxTerumo BctNikonGe Healthcare…Becton Dickinson and
Top 14 C12M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C12M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near C12M's 8,154-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for C12M (#190 of 670 by volume ; lead share 1.3%) - not the C12 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

A61C 8,164 C07B 8,058 E05Y 8,287 B60H 7,970

Nearest by lead-assignee share

E04H 1.3% A47G 1.3% B01D 1.4% E02B 1.3%

Questions about C12M

Which company holds the most patents in C12M?
Life Technologies Corporation leads C12M with 110 patents (1.3% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 59% of class grants.
Which C12M assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C12M, 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 15 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does C12M compare inside parent class C12?
Inside C12 (BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; Mutation OR Genetic Engineering), C12M ranks #5 of 12 subclasses by grant volume and holds 5.6% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C12N (68,530 grants).

What to do with this data

C12M in context - here's where to go next.

  • Life Technologies Corporation leads C12M with 110 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • C12M ranks #190 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class C12, the largest sibling subclass is C12N with 68,530 grants. Explore C12N

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

Methodology - C12M figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (8,154 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.