CPC technology class · C14
C14B — Mechanical Treatment OR Processing OF Skins
Mechanical treatment or processing of skins, hides or leather in general; pelt-shearing machines; intestine-splitting machines. 102 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.
- 102
- US patents granted
- C14
- Parent CPC class
- 16
- Active assignees
- +44%
- 5-yr velocity
CPC subclass C14B — MECHANICAL TREATMENT OR PROCESSING OF SKINS, HIDES OR LEATHER IN GENERAL; PELT-SHEARING MACHINES; INTESTINE-SPLITTING MACHINES — covers 102 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records. This subclass sits within the broader CPC class C14 (SKINS; HIDES; PELTS; LEATHER), 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 C14B 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 C14B is shaped by 16 distinct companies actively filing in this space. MINKPAPIR A/S leads with 9 patents, followed by MINKPAPIR A/S at 12 grants and EIKON TECHNOLOGIES HOLDING SARL at 6. 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 C14B 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 C14B innovation accelerating?
US utility-patent grants per year in C14B, 2015–2025 — recent five years are up 44% versus 2015–2019.
Who leads C14B?
The 12 most active assignees in MECHANICAL TREATMENT OR PROCESSING OF SKINS, HIDES OR LEATHER IN GENERAL; PELT-SHEARING MACHINES; INTESTINE-SPLITTING MACHINES — wider bars mean more grants
- National Beef Packing 15
National Beef Packing Company, LLC
15 patents
- Minkpapir A/S 12
MINKPAPIR A/S
12 patents
- Eikon Holding Sarl 6
EIKON TECHNOLOGIES HOLDING SARL
6 patents
- Sustainable Composites 6
Sustainable Composites, LLC
6 patents
- Atko Planning 6
ATKO PLANNING INC.
6 patents
- Xero 87
Xero Limited
87 patents
- Epica International 33
EPICA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
33 patents
- Lectra 7
LECTRA
7 patents
- Wolverine Outdoors
Wolverine Outdoors, Inc.
275 patents
- Ecco Sko A/S
ECCO Sko A/S
122 patents
- International Automot… 19
International Automotive Components Group GmbH
19 patents
- Gerber Technology 14
GERBER TECHNOLOGY LLC
14 patents
What this shows Minkpapir A/S is the most active filer in C14B, holding 9 of the 102 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 C14B |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | National Beef Packing Company, LLC | 15 |
| #2 | MINKPAPIR A/S | 12 |
| #3 | EIKON TECHNOLOGIES HOLDING SARL | 6 |
| #4 | Sustainable Composites, LLC | 6 |
| #5 | ATKO PLANNING INC. | 6 |
| #6 | Xero Limited | 87 |
| #7 | EPICA INTERNATIONAL, INC. | 33 |
| #8 | LECTRA | 7 |
| #9 | Wolverine Outdoors, Inc. | 275 |
| #10 | ECCO Sko A/S | 122 |
| #11 | International Automotive Components Group GmbH | 19 |
| #12 | GERBER TECHNOLOGY LLC | 14 |
| #13 | Intops Co., Ltd. | 7 |
| #14 | SIMPLICITY WORKS EUROPE, S.L. | 7 |
| #15 | ZÜND SYSTEMTECHNIK AG | 7 |
| #16 | DANSK MINK PAPIR A/S | 5 |
About This Class
CPC subclass C14B belongs to class C14.
102 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.
16 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 C14B?
How many patents have been filed in C14B?
Which company holds the most patents in C14B?
How is patent data for C14B 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.