CPC technology class · E04

E04B - General Building Constructions

General building constructions; walls, e.g. partitions; roofs; floors; ceilings; insulation or other protection of buildings. 7,959 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

7,959
US patents granted: #1/6
in E04: 28.1%
E04 class share: +4%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, General Building Constructions ranks #193 of 670 CPC technology areas - 7,959 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 4% over five years.

#193
of 670 CPC technology areas: 7,959
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Awi Licensing
leading assignee (144): +4%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How E04B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, E04B recorded 3,704 grants versus 3,570 in 2015–2019 (+4% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 858 grants and bottomed in 2022 at 660 (+30% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee AWI Licensing LLC holds 1.8% of the class ; the top three share 3.9%.

Leaderboard read

E04B concentration, lead at 1.8%

AWI Licensing LLC leads this historical grant record at 1.8% of E04B - us corporation assignees hold 67% of class grants (2,873 of 4,261). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 1.8%
Top three share: 3.9%
Lead over #2: 42

Where E04B sits inside E04

Among 6 subclasses in E04 (Building), E04B ranks #1 and holds 28.1% of the parent class's 28,319 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

E04H 6,263 E04F 5,179 E04C 3,792 E04G 2,717 E04D 2,409

Rising assignees active in E04B

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 VÄLINGE Innovation AB 47x 0 → 47 company-wide · 8 in E04B
#2 Bmic LLC 35x 5 → 176 company-wide · 15 in E04B
#3 Peri SE 35x 0 → 35 company-wide · 5 in E04B
#4 Gold Bond Building Products, LLC 25x 1 → 25 company-wide · 15 in E04B
#5 Rockwool A/S 21x 0 → 21 company-wide · 9 in E04B

E04B grants by year, peak 2020 (858)

US utility-patent grants per year in E04B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 4% versus 2015–2019.

Awi Licensing

144
Hilti Aktiengesellscha…

102
Simpson Strong-tie

66
Schul International

65
Usg Interiors

63
Owens Corning…

61
Valinge Innovation Ab

56
Columbia Insurance

51
Certainteed

50
Johns Manville

45
California Expanded…

45
Cetres Holdings

43

What this shows Awi Licensing is the most active filer in E04B, holding 144 of the 7,959 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 E04B
Rank	Company	Patents in E04B
#1	AWI Licensing LLC	144
#2	Hilti Aktiengesellschaft	102
#3	Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc.	66
#4	Schul International Co., LLC	65
#5	USG Interiors, LLC	63
#6	Owens Corning Intellectual Capital, LLC	61
#7	Valinge Innovation AB	56
#8	Columbia Insurance Company	51
#9	CertainTeed LLC	50
#10	Johns Manville	45
#11	California Expanded Metal Products Company	45
#12	Cetres Holdings, LLC	43
#13	Dirtt Environmental Solutions Ltd.	41
#14	United States Gypsum Company	40
#15	Saint-gobain Isover	32
#16	Rockwool International A/S	32
#17	Emseal Joint Systems, Ltd.	31
#18	Steelcase Inc.	30
#19	CertainTeed Ceilings Corporation	28
#20	Sika Technology AG	26

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading E04B 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 E04B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in E04B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near E04B's 7,959-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for E04B (#193 of 670 by volume ; lead share 1.8%) - not the E04 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B60H 7,970 G01P 7,932 H04S 7,918 A47B 7,915

Nearest by lead-assignee share

C12Q 1.8% C25B 1.8% B29B 1.8% C01B 1.8%

Questions about E04B

Which company holds the most patents in E04B?

AWI Licensing LLC leads E04B with 144 patents (1.8% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 67% of class grants.

Which E04B assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in E04B, VÄLINGE Innovation AB shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (47x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 47 in 2022–2024) while holding 8 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does E04B compare inside parent class E04?

Inside E04 (Building), E04B ranks #1 of 6 subclasses by grant volume and holds 28.1% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is E04H (6,263 grants).

What to do with this data

E04B in context - here's where to go next.

AWI Licensing LLC leads E04B with 144 grants in this class. See full portfolio
E04B ranks #193 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class E04, the largest sibling subclass is E04H with 6,263 grants. Explore E04H

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

Methodology - E04B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (7,959 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.