PlainPatent

CPC technology class · C14

C14C - Chemical Treatment Of Hides

Chemical treatment of hides, skins or leather, e.g. tanning, impregnating, finishing; apparatus therefor; compositions for tanning. 170 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

170
US patents granted
#1/2
in C14
62.5%
C14 class share
+42%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Chemical Treatment Of Hides ranks #608 of 670 CPC technology areas - 170 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 42% over five years.

#608
of 670 CPC technology areas
170
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Modern Meadow
leading assignee (11)
+42%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C14C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C14C recorded 84 grants versus 59 in 2015–2019 (+42% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2022 at 22 grants and bottomed in 2017 at 8 (+175% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Modern Meadow, Inc. holds 6.5% of the class ; the top three share 18.2%.

Leaderboard read

C14C concentration, lead at 6.5%

Modern Meadow, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 6.5% of C14C - foreign corporation assignees hold 51% of class grants (36 of 70). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
6.5%

11 of 170 grants

Top three share
18.2%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
1

more grants than Agfa NV

Where C14C sits inside C14

Among 2 subclasses in C14 (SKINS; HIDES; PELTS; Leather), C14C ranks #1 and holds 62.5% of the parent class's 272 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

C14B 102

Rising assignees active in C14C

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 Xero Limited 1.88x 16 → 30 company-wide · 7 in C14C
  2. #2 Modern Meadow, Inc. 1.50x 6 → 9 company-wide · 11 in C14C
  3. #3 Vitrolabs Inc 1.33x 3 → 4 company-wide · 7 in C14C
  4. #4 King's College London 1.11x 36 → 40 company-wide · 8 in C14C
  5. #5 National Beef Packing Company, LLC 0.80x 5 → 4 company-wide · 10 in C14C

C14C grants by year, peak 2022 (22)

US utility-patent grants per year in C14C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 42% versus 2015–2019.

510152025 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 12

Who leads C14C?

The 12 most active assignees in Chemical Treatment OF Hides, Skins OR Leather, e.g. Tanning, Impregnating, FINISHING; Apparatus THEREFOR; Compositions FOR Tanning - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Modern Meadow is the most active filer in C14C, holding 11 of the 170 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 C14C
Rank Company Patents in C14C
#1 Modern Meadow, Inc. 11
#2 Agfa NV 10
#3 National Beef Packing Company, LLC 10
#4 King's College London 8
#5 Xero Limited 7
#6 Vitrolabs Inc 7
#7 Ecco Sko A/S 3
#8 Stahl International B.V. 3
#9 Tyson Foods, Inc. 2
#10 Nissin Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. 2
#11 Evolved BY Nature, Inc. 2
#12 Energizer Auto, Inc. 1
#13 E I DU Pont Nemours AND Company 1
#14 Minkpapir A/S 1
#15 Atko Planning Inc. 1
#16 Universitat DE Lleida 1

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C14C 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 C14C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C14C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 051015 Patents in C14C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Modern MeadowAgfaNational Beef PackingKing's College LondonXeroVitrolabsEcco Sko A/SStahl International B…Tyson FoodsNissin Chemical…Evolved By NatureEnergizer AutoE I Du Pont Nemours…Minkpapir A/S
Top 14 C14C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C14C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Questions about C14C

Which company holds the most patents in C14C?
Modern Meadow, Inc. leads C14C with 11 patents (6.5% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 51% of class grants.
Which C14C assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C14C, Xero Limited shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (1.88x: 16 grants in 2019–2021 → 30 in 2022–2024) while holding 7 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does C14C compare inside parent class C14?
Inside C14 (SKINS; HIDES; PELTS; Leather), C14C ranks #1 of 2 subclasses by grant volume and holds 62.5% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C14B (102 grants).

What to do with this data

C14C in context - here's where to go next.

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

Methodology - C14C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (170 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.