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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 filing trajectory.

3,163
US patents granted
C22
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+7%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Production AND Refining OF Metals ranks #307 of 670 CPC technology areas - 3,163 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 7% over five years.

#307
of 670 CPC technology areas
3,163
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Sumitomo Metal Mining
leading assignee (110)
+7%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (110 patents)

CPC subclass C22B - PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS ; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS - covers 3,163 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class C22 (METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in C22B is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. leads with 110 patents, followed by Outotec (finland) OY at 53 grants and Freeport Minerals Corporation at 44.

Filing activity in C22B is up 7% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a relatively steady filing pace. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is C22B innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in C22B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 7% 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

About This Class

CPC subclass C22B belongs to class C22.

3,163 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.

20 companies actively patent in this space.

Classification System

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system used by the USPTO and EPO.

← All Technology Classes Technology Rankings →

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).

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 & Me…Molten Metal Equipmen…Outotec OyjGuangdong Brunp Recyc…Carbon Technology Hol…Hunan Brunp Recycling…ValeKorea Institute Of Ge…UmicoreCidra Corporate Servi…Gem
Top 14 C22B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C22B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class C22B?
CPC subclass C22B covers PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS ; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS. It belongs to CPC class C22 (METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS), with 3,163 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in C22B?
3,163 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass C22B between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in C22B?
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. leads C22B with 110 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for C22B collected?
Patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It covers all US granted utility patents and assigns CPC codes based on the technology described in each patent.
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
A CPC class (e.g., C22) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like C22B provide finer granularity within that category. PlainPatent organizes data at the subclass level (4-character codes) for the most useful view of technology domains.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent Editorial

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.