CPC technology class · C22

C22F - Changing The Physical Structure Of Non-ferrous Metals And…

Changing the physical structure of non-ferrous metals and non-ferrous alloys. 3,437 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

3,437
US patents granted: #2/3
in C22: 15.0%
C22 class share: +3%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Changing The Physical Structure Of Non-ferrous Metals And… ranks #299 of 670 CPC technology areas - 3,437 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 3% over five years.

#299
of 670 CPC technology areas: 3,437
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Uacj
leading assignee (90): +3%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C22F's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C22F recorded 1,430 grants versus 1,393 in 2015–2019 (+3% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 378 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 185 (+104% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Uacj Corporation holds 2.6% of the class ; the top three share 6.9%.

Leaderboard read

C22F concentration, lead at 2.6%

Uacj Corporation leads this historical grant record at 2.6% of C22F - foreign corporation assignees hold 72% of class grants (1,232 of 1,713). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 2.6%
Top three share: 6.9%
Lead over #2: 15

Where C22F sits inside C22

Among 3 subclasses in C22 (METALLURGY; Ferrous OR Non-ferrous ALLOYS; Treatment OF Alloys OR Non-ferrous Metals), C22F ranks #2 and holds 15.0% 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 C22B 3,163

Rising assignees active in C22F

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 Proterial, Ltd. 139x 0 → 139 company-wide · 12 in C22F
#2 Materion Newton Inc. 11x 0 → 11 company-wide · 5 in C22F
#3 Alloy Enterprises Inc. 9.00x 0 → 9 company-wide · 8 in C22F
#4 Novelis Koblenz GMBH 7.00x 0 → 7 company-wide · 7 in C22F
#5 MA Aluminum Corporation 7.00x 0 → 7 company-wide · 5 in C22F

C22F grants by year, peak 2019 (378)

US utility-patent grants per year in C22F, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 3% versus 2015–2019.

Uacj

90
Jx Nippon Mining &…

75
Mitsubishi Materials

73
Novelis

72
Furukawa Electric

65
Kobe Steel

61
Ati Properties

55
Tanaka Kikinzoku…

38
Nippon Steel

37
Nippon Steel &…

36
Mitsubishi Shindoh

35
Nippon Light Metal

30

What this shows Uacj is the most active filer in C22F, holding 90 of the 3,437 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

View data table

Top patent holders in CPC subclass C22F
Rank	Company	Patents in C22F
#1	Uacj Corporation	90
#2	JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation	75
#3	Mitsubishi Materials Corporation	73
#4	Novelis Inc.	72
#5	Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.	65
#6	Kobe Steel Ltd.	61
#7	ATI Properties LLC	55
#8	Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.	38
#9	Nippon Steel Corporation	37
#10	Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation	36
#11	Mitsubishi Shindoh Co., Ltd.	35
#12	Nippon Light Metal Company, Ltd.	30
#13	Constellium Issoire	30
#14	Arconic Corporation	29
#15	Furukawa Automotive Systems Inc.	27
#16	Dowa Metaltech Co., Ltd.	22
#17	Materion Corporation	17
#18	MTU Aero Engines AG	16
#19	H.C. Starck Inc.	16
#20	Alcoa Inc.	15

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C22F 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 C22F assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C22F. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near C22F's 3,437-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for C22F (#299 of 670 by volume ; lead share 2.6%) - not the C22 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

D04H 3,452 F02N 3,467 F01M 3,398 G01G 3,374

Nearest by lead-assignee share

C40B 2.6% H02H 2.6% F16F 2.6% A61D 2.6%

Questions about C22F

Which company holds the most patents in C22F?

Uacj Corporation leads C22F with 90 patents (2.6% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 72% of class grants.

Which C22F assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C22F, Proterial, Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (139x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 139 in 2022–2024) while holding 12 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does C22F compare inside parent class C22?

Inside C22 (METALLURGY; Ferrous OR Non-ferrous ALLOYS; Treatment OF Alloys OR Non-ferrous Metals), C22F ranks #2 of 3 subclasses by grant volume and holds 15.0% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C22C (16,292 grants).

What to do with this data

C22F in context - here's where to go next.

Uacj Corporation leads C22F with 90 grants in this class. See full portfolio
C22F ranks #299 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 - C22F figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (3,437 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.