CPC technology class · E04

E04F - Finishing Work On Buildings

Finishing work on buildings, e.g. stairs, floors. 5,179 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

5,179
US patents granted: #3/6
in E04: 18.3%
E04 class share: +13%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Finishing Work On Buildings ranks #250 of 670 CPC technology areas - 5,179 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 13% over five years.

#250
of 670 CPC technology areas: 5,179
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Flooring Industies Sarl
leading assignee (212): +13%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How E04F's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, E04F recorded 2,496 grants versus 2,215 in 2015–2019 (+13% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 541 grants and bottomed in 2016 at 410 (+32% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Flooring Industies Limited, Sarl holds 4.1% of the class ; the top three share 9.6%.

Leaderboard read

E04F concentration, lead at 4.1%

Flooring Industies Limited, Sarl leads this historical grant record at 4.1% of E04F - foreign corporation assignees hold 51% of class grants (1,632 of 3,223). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 4.1%
Top three share: 9.6%
Lead over #2: 22

Where E04F sits inside E04

Among 6 subclasses in E04 (Building), E04F ranks #3 and holds 18.3% 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.

E04B 7,959 E04H 6,263 E04C 3,792 E04G 2,717 E04D 2,409

Rising assignees active in E04F

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 Toppan Inc. 56x 0 → 56 company-wide · 6 in E04F
#2 VÄLINGE Innovation AB 47x 0 → 47 company-wide · 57 in E04F
#3 Acufloor, LLC 21x 0 → 21 company-wide · 19 in E04F
#4 Rockwool A/S 21x 0 → 21 company-wide · 5 in E04F
#5 Shaw Industries Group, Inc. 8.50x 2 → 17 company-wide · 16 in E04F

E04F grants by year, peak 2020 (541)

US utility-patent grants per year in E04F, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 13% versus 2015–2019.

Flooring Industies…

212
Valinge Innovation Ab

190
Ceraloc Innovation Ab

94
Unilin Bv

85
Certainteed

69
i4f Licensing

66
VÄLinge Innovation Ab

57
United States Gypsum

45
Champion Link…

37
Pergo (Europe) Ab

34
James Hardie…

31
Unilin Bvba

31

What this shows Flooring Industies… is the most active filer in E04F, holding 212 of the 5,179 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 E04F
Rank	Company	Patents in E04F
#1	Flooring Industies Limited, Sarl	212
#2	Valinge Innovation AB	190
#3	Ceraloc Innovation AB	94
#4	Unilin BV	85
#5	CertainTeed LLC	69
#6	i4F Licensing NV	66
#7	VÄLINGE Innovation AB	57
#8	United States Gypsum Company	45
#9	Champion Link International Corporation	37
#10	Pergo (EUROPE) AB	34
#11	James Hardie Technology Limited	31
#12	Unilin Bvba	31
#13	Akzenta Paneele + Profile GMBH	29
#14	Columbia Insurance Company	28
#15	Progress Profiles SPA	28
#16	Owens Corning Intellectual Capital, LLC	25
#17	Schluter Systems L.P.	24
#18	Advanced Architectural Products, LLC	24
#19	Xylo Technologies AG	24
#20	Fortress Iron, LP	23

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading E04F 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 E04F assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in E04F. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near E04F's 5,179-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for E04F (#250 of 670 by volume ; lead share 4.1%) - not the E04 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

H03G 5,213 B60P 5,242 B23B 5,282 C10L 5,025

Nearest by lead-assignee share

G08C 4.1% F24D 4.1% B06B 4.1% D21C 4.1%

Questions about E04F

Which company holds the most patents in E04F?

Flooring Industies Limited, Sarl leads E04F with 212 patents (4.1% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 51% of class grants.

Which E04F assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in E04F, Toppan Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (56x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 56 in 2022–2024) while holding 6 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does E04F compare inside parent class E04?

Inside E04 (Building), E04F ranks #3 of 6 subclasses by grant volume and holds 18.3% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is E04B (7,959 grants).

What to do with this data

E04F in context - here's where to go next.

Flooring Industies Limited, Sarl leads E04F with 212 grants in this class. See full portfolio
E04F ranks #250 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class E04, the largest sibling subclass is E04B with 7,959 grants. Explore E04B

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

Methodology - E04F figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (5,179 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.