PlainPatent

CPC technology class · C23

C23C - Coating Metallic Material

Coating metallic material; coating material with metallic material; surface treatment of metallic material by diffusion into the surface, by chemical conversion or substitution; coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering, by ion implantation or by chemical vapour deposition, in general. 29,488 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

29,488
US patents granted
#1/4
in C23
88.6%
C23 class share
+1%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Coating Metallic Material ranks #66 of 670 CPC technology areas - 29,488 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 1% over five years.

#66
of 670 CPC technology areas
29,488
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Applied Materials
leading assignee (2,196)
+1%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C23C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C23C recorded 12,813 grants versus 12,646 in 2015–2019 (+1% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 2,847 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 2,256 (+26% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Applied Materials, Inc. holds 7.4% of the class ; the top three share 13.8%.

Leaderboard read

C23C concentration, lead at 7.4%

Applied Materials, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 7.4% of C23C - foreign corporation assignees hold 65% of class grants (12,475 of 19,304). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
7.4%

2,196 of 29,488 grants

Top three share
13.8%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
1,008

more grants than Tokyo Electron Limited

Where C23C sits inside C23

Among 4 subclasses in C23 (Coating Metallic MATERIAL; Coating Material With Metallic MATERIAL; Chemical Surface TREATMENT; Diffusion Treatment OF Metallic MATERIAL; Coating BY Vacuum Evaporation, BY Sputtering, BY ION Implantat), C23C ranks #1 and holds 88.6% of the parent class's 33,270 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

C23F 2,985 C23G 703 C23D 94

Rising assignees active in C23C

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 RTX Corporation 662x 0 → 662 company-wide · 82 in C23C
  2. #2 Resonac Corporation 192x 0 → 192 company-wide · 22 in C23C
  3. #3 Wuhan Tianma Microelectronics Co., Ltd. Shanghai Branch 142x 0 → 142 company-wide · 5 in C23C
  4. #4 Proterial, Ltd. 139x 0 → 139 company-wide · 8 in C23C
  5. #5 Changxin Memory Technologies, Inc. 63x 17 → 1,066 company-wide · 15 in C23C

C23C grants by year, peak 2019 (2,847)

US utility-patent grants per year in C23C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 1% versus 2015–2019.

2,0002,2002,4002,6002,8003,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 2,093

Who leads C23C?

The 12 most active assignees in Coating Metallic MATERIAL; Coating Material With Metallic MATERIAL; Surface Treatment OF Metallic Material BY Diffusion Into THE Surface, BY Chemical Conversion OR SUBSTITUTION; Coating BY Vacuum Evaporation, BY Sputtering, BY ION Implantation OR BY Chemical Vapour Deposition, IN General - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Applied Materials is the most active filer in C23C, holding 2,196 of the 29,488 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 C23C
Rank Company Patents in C23C
#1 Applied Materials, Inc. 2,196
#2 Tokyo Electron Limited 1,188
#3 ASM IP Holding B.V. 688
#4 Lam Research Corporation 673
#5 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. 493
#6 JFE Steel Corporation 417
#7 Kokusai Electric Corporation 375
#8 Nippon Steel Corporation 357
#9 Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. 296
#10 BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. 263
#11 Posco Co., Ltd 263
#12 Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation 203
#13 ArcelorMittal 187
#14 United Technologies Corporation 185
#15 JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation 174
#16 Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. 157
#17 Oerlikon Surface Solutions AG, Pfäffikon 149
#18 Mitsubishi Materials Corporation 135
#19 Raytheon Technologies Corporation 133
#20 Sumitomo Electric Hardmetal Corp. 132

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C23C 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 C23C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C23C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 05001000150020002500 Patents in C23C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Applied MaterialsTokyo ElectronAsm Ip Holding B VLam ResearchTaiwan Semiconductor…Jfe SteelKokusai ElectricNippon SteelHitachi Kokusai…Boe Technology GroupPoscoNippon Steel &…ArcelormittalUnited
Top 14 C23C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C23C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near C23C's 29,488-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for C23C (#66 of 670 by volume ; lead share 7.4%) - not the C23 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B62D 29,451 B65D 29,449 H01Q 29,793 C08G 29,133

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B21F 7.5% B27N 7.5% B23D 7.4% F16C 7.4%

Questions about C23C

Which company holds the most patents in C23C?
Applied Materials, Inc. leads C23C with 2,196 patents (7.4% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 65% of class grants.
Which C23C assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C23C, RTX Corporation shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (662x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 662 in 2022–2024) while holding 82 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does C23C compare inside parent class C23?
Inside C23 (Coating Metallic MATERIAL; Coating Material With Metallic MATERIAL; Chemical Surface TREATMENT; Diffusion Treatment OF Metallic MATERIAL; Coating BY Vacuum Evaporation, BY Sputtering, BY ION Implantat), C23C ranks #1 of 4 subclasses by grant volume and holds 88.6% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C23F (2,985 grants).

What to do with this data

C23C in context - here's where to go next.

  • Applied Materials, Inc. leads C23C with 2,196 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • C23C ranks #66 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class C23, the largest sibling subclass is C23F with 2,985 grants. Explore C23F

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

Methodology - C23C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (29,488 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.