CPC technology class · E02

E02D - Foundations

Foundations; excavations; embankments ; underground or underwater structures. 3,369 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

3,369
US patents granted
#2/4
in E02
25.8%
E02 class share
+3%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Foundations ranks #302 of 670 CPC technology areas - 3,369 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 3% over five years.

#302
of 670 CPC technology areas
3,369
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Hamm
leading assignee (35)
+3%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How E02D's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, E02D recorded 1,505 grants versus 1,461 in 2015–2019 (+3% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 373 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 246 (+52% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Hamm AG holds 1.0% of the class ; the top three share 2.8%.

Leaderboard read

E02D concentration, lead at 1.0%

Hamm AG leads this historical grant record at 1.0% of E02D - us corporation assignees hold 55% of class grants (896 of 1,624). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
1.0%

35 of 3,369 grants

Top three share
2.8%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
4

more grants than Ojjo, Inc.

Where E02D sits inside E02

Among 4 subclasses in E02 (Hydraulic ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; Soil Shifting), E02D ranks #2 and holds 25.8% of the parent class's 13,033 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

Rising assignees active in E02D

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 Iqip Holding B.V. 8.00x 0 → 8 company-wide · 6 in E02D
  2. #2 Independence Materials Group, LLC 7.00x 2 → 14 company-wide · 8 in E02D
  3. #3 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences 6.25x 4 → 25 company-wide · 6 in E02D
  4. #4 Wilkinson Ecological Design 6.00x 0 → 6 company-wide · 8 in E02D
  5. #5 Forma Technologies Inc. 5.00x 0 → 5 company-wide · 6 in E02D

E02D grants by year, peak 2019 (373)

US utility-patent grants per year in E02D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 3% versus 2015–2019.

200250300350400 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 230

Who leads E02D?

The 12 most active assignees in FOUNDATIONS; EXCAVATIONS; Embankments ; Underground OR Underwater Structures - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Hamm is the most active filer in E02D, holding 35 of the 3,369 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

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading E02D 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 E02D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in E02D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 10152025303540 Patents in E02D Avg claims / patent (company-wide) HammOjjoSoletanche FreyssinetGeopier FoundationKeystone Retaining…Bauer MaschinenCaterpillar Paving…Bauer SpezialtiefbauAmerican Piledriving…Ihc Holland Ie B VSoilmec S P ABomagAnchor Wall SystemsTensar International
Top 14 E02D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in E02D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near E02D's 3,369-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for E02D (#302 of 670 by volume ; lead share 1.0%) - not the E02 parent-class siblings above.

Questions about E02D

Which company holds the most patents in E02D?
Hamm AG leads E02D with 35 patents (1.0% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 55% of class grants.
Which E02D assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in E02D, Iqip Holding B.V. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (8.00x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 8 in 2022–2024) while holding 6 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does E02D compare inside parent class E02?
Inside E02 (Hydraulic ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; Soil Shifting), E02D ranks #2 of 4 subclasses by grant volume and holds 25.8% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is E02F (7,816 grants).

What to do with this data

E02D in context - here's where to go next.

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

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.