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CPC technology class · C22

C22B - Production And Refining Of Metals

Production and refining of metals ; pretreatment of raw materials. 3,163 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

3,163
US patents granted
#3/3
in C22
13.8%
C22 class share
-13%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Production And Refining Of Metals ranks #307 of 670 CPC technology areas - 3,163 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 13% over five years.

#307
of 670 CPC technology areas
3,163
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Sumitomo Metal Mining
leading assignee (110)
-13%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C22B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C22B recorded 1,192 grants versus 1,376 in 2015–2019 (-13% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2017 at 293 grants and bottomed in 2021 at 209 (+40% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. holds 3.5% of the class ; the top three share 6.5%.

Leaderboard read

C22B concentration, lead at 3.5%

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. leads this historical grant record at 3.5% of C22B - foreign corporation assignees hold 66% of class grants (1,029 of 1,561). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
3.5%

110 of 3,163 grants

Top three share
6.5%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
57

more grants than Outotec (FINLAND) OY

Where C22B sits inside C22

Among 3 subclasses in C22 (METALLURGY; Ferrous OR Non-ferrous ALLOYS; Treatment OF Alloys OR Non-ferrous Metals), C22B ranks #3 and holds 13.8% of the parent class's 22,892 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

C22C 16,292 C22F 3,437

Rising assignees active in C22B

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 Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. 61x 0 → 61 company-wide · 26 in C22B
  2. #2 Hunan Brunp Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. 59x 0 → 59 company-wide · 25 in C22B
  3. #3 JX Metals Corporation 41x 0 → 41 company-wide · 5 in C22B
  4. #4 Hunan Brunp EV Recycling Co., Ltd. 37x 0 → 37 company-wide · 14 in C22B
  5. #5 Metallo Belgium 10x 1 → 10 company-wide · 11 in C22B

C22B grants by year, peak 2017 (293)

US utility-patent grants per year in C22B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 13% versus 2015–2019.

200220240260280300 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 279

Who leads C22B?

The 12 most active assignees in Production AND Refining OF Metals ; Pretreatment OF RAW Materials - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Sumitomo Metal Mining is the most active filer in C22B, holding 110 of the 3,163 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 C22B
Rank Company Patents in C22B
#1 Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. 110
#2 Outotec (FINLAND) OY 53
#3 Freeport Minerals Corporation 44
#4 JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation 41
#5 Molten Metal Equipment Innovations, LLC 37
#6 Outotec Oyj 30
#7 Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. 26
#8 Carbon Technology Holdings, LLC 26
#9 Hunan Brunp Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. 25
#10 Vale S.A. 22
#11 Korea Institute Of Geoscience And Mineral Resources 21
#12 Umicore 19
#13 Cidra Corporate Services LLC 19
#14 GEM Co., Ltd. 19
#15 Beijing University OF Technology 17
#16 Pyrotek, Inc. 17
#17 Lilac Solutions, Inc. 17
#18 Heraeus Deutschland GMBH & Co. KG 16
#19 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 16
#20 Technological Resources PTY Limited 16

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C22B 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 C22B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C22B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 51015202530 050100150 Patents in C22B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Sumitomo Metal MiningOutotec (Finland) OyFreeport MineralsJx Nippon Mining &…Molten Metal…Outotec OyjGuangdong Brunp…Carbon Technology…Hunan Brunp Recycling…ValeKorea Institute Of…UmicoreCidra Corporate…Gem
Top 14 C22B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C22B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near C22B's 3,163-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for C22B (#307 of 670 by volume ; lead share 3.5%) - not the C22 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

G10H 3,197 H03B 3,110 C12R 3,107 D06M 3,083

Nearest by lead-assignee share

A21B 3.5% A47F 3.5% A23G 3.5% H02J 3.5%

Questions about C22B

Which company holds the most patents in C22B?
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. leads C22B with 110 patents (3.5% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 66% of class grants.
Which C22B assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C22B, Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (61x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 61 in 2022–2024) while holding 26 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does C22B compare inside parent class C22?
Inside C22 (METALLURGY; Ferrous OR Non-ferrous ALLOYS; Treatment OF Alloys OR Non-ferrous Metals), C22B ranks #3 of 3 subclasses by grant volume and holds 13.8% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C22C (16,292 grants).

What to do with this data

C22B in context - here's where to go next.

  • Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. leads C22B with 110 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • C22B ranks #307 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class C22, the largest sibling subclass is C22C with 16,292 grants. Explore C22C

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

Methodology - C22B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (3,163 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.