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CPC technology class · E04

E04C - Structural Elements

Structural elements; building materials. 3,792 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

3,792
US patents granted
E04
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+15%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Structural Elements ranks #280 of 670 CPC technology areas - 3,792 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 15% over five years.

#280
of 670 CPC technology areas
3,792
US patents granted, 2015–2025
United States Gypsum
leading assignee (65)
+15%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: United States Gypsum Company (65 patents)

CPC subclass E04C - STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS; BUILDING MATERIALS - covers 3,792 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 E04C is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. United States Gypsum Company leads with 65 patents, followed by Valinge Innovation AB at 42 grants and Georgia-pacific Gypsum Llc at 36.

Filing activity in E04C is up 15% 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 E04C innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in E04C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 15% versus 2015–2019.

200250300350400450 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 223

Who leads E04C?

The 12 most active assignees in STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS; BUILDING MATERIALS - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows United States Gypsum is the most active filer in E04C, holding 65 of the 3,792 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 E04C
Rank Company Patents in E04C
#1 United States Gypsum Company 65
#2 Valinge Innovation AB 42
#3 Georgia-pacific Gypsum Llc 36
#4 Johns Manville 31
#5 Certainteed Gypsum, Inc. 30
#6 AWI Licensing Llc 28
#7 Ceraloc Innovation AB 25
#8 Keystone Retaining Wall Systems, Llc 25
#9 Nucor Corporation 24
#10 Certainteed Llc 23
#11 Anchor Wall Systems, Inc. 23
#12 KING SAUD University 22
#13 Simpson Strong-tie Company, Inc. 22
#14 Huber Engineered Woods Llc 21
#15 Flooring Industies Limited, SARL 20
#16 Cetres Holdings, Llc 20
#17 Knauf Gips KG 19
#18 California Expanded Metal Products Company 17
#19 Covestro Llc 16
#20 Gold Bond Building Products, Llc 15

About This Class

CPC subclass E04C belongs to class E04.

3,792 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 E04C 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 E04C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in E04C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 E04C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in E04C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 10203040506070 Patents in E04C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) United States GypsumValinge Innovation AbGeorgia-pacific GypsumJohns ManvilleCertainteed GypsumAwi LicensingCeraloc Innovation AbKeystone Retaining Wa…NucorCertainteedAnchor Wall SystemsKing Saud UniversitySimpson Strong-tieHuber Engineered Woods
Top 14 E04C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in E04C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class E04C?
CPC subclass E04C covers STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS; BUILDING MATERIALS. It belongs to CPC class E04 (BUILDING), with 3,792 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in E04C?
3,792 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass E04C between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in E04C?
United States Gypsum Company leads E04C with 65 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for E04C 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 E04C 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.