CPC technology class · F01

F01M - Lubricating Of Machines Or Engines In General

Lubricating of machines or engines in general; lubricating internal combustion engines; crankcase ventilating. 3,398 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

3,398
US patents granted: #5/8
in F01: 6.3%
F01 class share: +4%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Lubricating Of Machines Or Engines In General ranks #300 of 670 CPC technology areas - 3,398 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 4% over five years.

#300
of 670 CPC technology areas: 3,398
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Ford Global
leading assignee (244): +4%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How F01M's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, F01M recorded 1,581 grants versus 1,521 in 2015–2019 (+4% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 421 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 209 (+101% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Cummins Filtration IP, Inc. holds 2.5% of the class ; the top three share 6.4%.

Leaderboard read

F01M concentration, lead at 2.5%

Cummins Filtration IP, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 2.5% of F01M - foreign corporation assignees hold 67% of class grants (905 of 1,349). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 2.5%
Top three share: 6.4%
Lead over #2: 16

Where F01M sits inside F01

Among 8 subclasses in F01 (Machines OR Engines IN GENERAL; Engine Plants IN GENERAL; Steam Engines), F01M ranks #5 and holds 6.3% of the parent class's 53,585 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

F01D 24,492 F01N 12,144 F01L 4,152 F01P 4,129 F01K 2,854 F01C 1,662 F01B 754

Rising assignees active in F01M

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 Powerhouse Engine Solutions Switzerland IP Holding GmbH 11x 2 → 22 company-wide · 6 in F01M
#2 Cummins Filtration Inc. 10x 0 → 10 company-wide · 5 in F01M
#3 Yantai Jereh Petroleum Equipment & Technologies Co., Ltd. 8.92x 12 → 107 company-wide · 13 in F01M
#4 UFI Filters S.P.A. 3.33x 6 → 20 company-wide · 13 in F01M
#5 GE Avio S.R.L. 3.32x 31 → 103 company-wide · 5 in F01M

F01M grants by year, peak 2020 (421)

US utility-patent grants per year in F01M, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 4% versus 2015–2019.

Cummins Filtration Ip

85
Mann+Hummel

69
Pratt & Whitney Canada

65
Mahle International

60
Cummins

47
Suzuki Motor

34
Brunswick

30
Toyota Boshoku

23
Castrol

23
Man Truck &Bus

21
Nidec Tosok

19
Yamada Manufacturing

19

What this shows Ford Global is the most active filer in F01M, holding 244 of the 3,398 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 F01M
Rank	Company	Patents in F01M
#1	Cummins Filtration IP, Inc.	85
#2	MANN+HUMMEL GmbH	69
#3	Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.	65
#4	Mahle International GmbH	60
#5	Cummins Inc.	47
#6	Suzuki Motor Corporation	34
#7	Brunswick Corporation	30
#8	Toyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha	23
#9	Castrol Limited	23
#10	MAN Truck &Bus AG	21
#11	Nidec Tosok Corporation	19
#12	Yamada Manufacturing Co., Ltd.	19
#13	Yanmar Holdings Co., Ltd.	17
#14	Donaldson Company, Inc.	16
#15	Aisan Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha	16
#16	Mahle Filter Systems Japan Corporation	16
#17	Isuzu Motors Limited	15
#18	Alfa Laval Corporate AB	15
#19	Briggs & Stratton, LLC	15
#20	RPM Industries, LLC	15

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading F01M 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 F01M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F01M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near F01M's 3,398-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for F01M (#300 of 670 by volume ; lead share 7.2%) - not the F01 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

G01G 3,374 E02D 3,369 C22F 3,437 D04H 3,452

Nearest by lead-assignee share

H02G 7.2% D06P 7.1% B22C 7.2% A61N 7.1%

Questions about F01M

Which company holds the most patents in F01M?

Ford Global Technologies, LLC leads F01M with 244 patents (2.5% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 67% of class grants.

Which F01M assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in F01M, Powerhouse Engine Solutions Switzerland IP Holding GmbH shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (11x: 2 grants in 2019–2021 → 22 in 2022–2024) while holding 6 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does F01M compare inside parent class F01?

Inside F01 (Machines OR Engines IN GENERAL; Engine Plants IN GENERAL; Steam Engines), F01M ranks #5 of 8 subclasses by grant volume and holds 6.3% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is F01D (24,492 grants).

What to do with this data

F01M in context - here's where to go next.

Cummins Filtration IP, Inc. leads F01M with 85 grants in this class. See full portfolio
F01M ranks #300 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class F01, the largest sibling subclass is F01D with 24,492 grants. Explore F01D

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

Methodology - F01M figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (3,398 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.