PlainPatent

CPC technology class · C22

C22C - Alloys

Alloys. 16,292 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

16,292
US patents granted
C22
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+32%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Alloys ranks #116 of 670 CPC technology areas - 16,292 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 32% over five years.

#116
of 670 CPC technology areas
16,292
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Jfe Steel
leading assignee (870)
+32%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: JFE Steel Corporation (870 patents)

CPC subclass C22C - ALLOYS - covers 16,292 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 C22C is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. JFE Steel Corporation leads with 870 patents, followed by Nippon Steel Corporation at 691 grants and Posco Co., Ltd at 464.

Filing activity in C22C is up 32% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a sharp acceleration suggesting an emerging or fast-moving technology area. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is C22C innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in C22C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 32% versus 2015–2019.

8001,0001,2001,4001,6001,800 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 1,053

Who leads C22C?

The 12 most active assignees in ALLOYS - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Jfe Steel is the most active filer in C22C, holding 870 of the 16,292 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 C22C
Rank Company Patents in C22C
#1 JFE Steel Corporation 870
#2 Nippon Steel Corporation 691
#3 Posco Co., Ltd 464
#4 Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation 420
#5 Hitachi, Ltd. 254
#6 KOBE Steel Ltd. 233
#7 Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. 190
#8 Arcelormittal 181
#9 TDK Corporation 170
#10 Mitsubishi Materials Corporation 170
#11 JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation 152
#12 Senju Metal Industry Co., Ltd. 117
#13 Baker Hughes Holdings Llc 116
#14 UACJ Corporation 116
#15 Baoshan IRON & Steel Co., Ltd. 108
#16 US Synthetic Corporation 89
#17 ATI Properties Llc 80
#18 Novelis Inc. 74
#19 Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. 73
#20 Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.k. 68

About This Class

CPC subclass C22C belongs to class C22.

16,292 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 C22C 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 C22C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C22C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 C22C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C22C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 5101520 02004006008001000 Patents in C22C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Jfe SteelNippon SteelPoscoNippon Steel & Sumito…HitachiKobe SteelSumitomo Electric Ind…ArcelormittalTdkMitsubishi MaterialsJx Nippon Mining & Me…Senju Metal IndustryBaker Hughes HoldingsUacj
Top 14 C22C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C22C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class C22C?
CPC subclass C22C covers ALLOYS. It belongs to CPC class C22 (METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS), with 16,292 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in C22C?
16,292 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass C22C between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in C22C?
JFE Steel Corporation leads C22C with 870 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for C22C 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 C22C 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.