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 filing trajectory.

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

7,959
US patents granted: E04
Parent CPC class: 20
Active assignees: +17%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

General Building Constructions ranks #193 of 670 CPC technology areas - 7,959 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 17% over five years.

#193
of 670 CPC technology areas: 7,959
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Awi Licensing
leading assignee (144): +17%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Top assignee: AWI Licensing Llc (144 patents)

CPC subclass E04B - GENERAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS; WALLS, e.g. PARTITIONS; ROOFS; FLOORS; CEILINGS; INSULATION OR OTHER PROTECTION OF BUILDINGS - covers 7,959 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class E04 (BUILDING). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in E04B is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. AWI Licensing Llc leads with 144 patents, followed by Hilti Aktiengesellschaft at 102 grants and Simpson Strong-tie Company, Inc. at 66.

Filing activity in E04B is up 17% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a relatively steady filing pace. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is E04B innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in E04B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 17% versus 2015–2019.

Awi Licensing

144
Hilti Aktiengesellsch…

102
Simpson Strong-tie

66
Schul International

65
Usg Interiors

63
Owens Corning Intelle…

61
Valinge Innovation Ab

56
Columbia Insurance

51
Certainteed

50
Johns Manville

45
California Expanded M…

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

About This Class

CPC subclass E04B belongs to class E04.

7,959 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 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).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class E04B?

CPC subclass E04B covers GENERAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS; WALLS, e.g. PARTITIONS; ROOFS; FLOORS; CEILINGS; INSULATION OR OTHER PROTECTION OF BUILDINGS. It belongs to CPC class E04 (BUILDING), with 7,959 US utility patents granted since 2015.

How many patents have been filed in E04B?

7,959 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass E04B between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.

Which company holds the most patents in E04B?

AWI Licensing Llc leads E04B with 144 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.

How is patent data for E04B 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., E04) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like E04B 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.