CPC technology class · F02

F02N - Starting Of Combustion Engines

Starting of combustion engines; starting aids for such engines, not otherwise provided for. 3,467 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

3,467
US patents granted: #6/9
in F02: 4.7%
F02 class share: -28%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Starting Of Combustion Engines ranks #297 of 670 CPC technology areas - 3,467 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 28% over five years.

#297
of 670 CPC technology areas: 3,467
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Ford Global
leading assignee (509): -28%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How F02N's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, F02N recorded 1,329 grants versus 1,858 in 2015–2019 (-28% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2017 at 393 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 145 (+171% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Cummins Inc. holds 1.6% of the class ; the top three share 4.1%.

Leaderboard read

F02N concentration, lead at 1.6%

Cummins Inc. leads this historical grant record at 1.6% of F02N - us corporation assignees hold 58% of class grants (383 of 658). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 1.6%
Top three share: 4.1%
Lead over #2: 1

Where F02N sits inside F02

Among 9 subclasses in F02 (Combustion ENGINES; Hot-gas OR Combustion-product Engine Plants), F02N ranks #6 and holds 4.7% of the parent class's 73,441 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

F02D 16,949 F02C 16,237 F02M 13,937 F02B 11,001 F02K 5,533 F02P 2,762 F02F 2,743 F02G 812

Rising assignees active in F02N

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 Shenzhen Carku Technology Co., Limited 6.33x 6 → 38 company-wide · 5 in F02N
#2 Starting Industrial Co., Ltd. 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 8 in F02N
#3 The Noco Company 2.39x 44 → 105 company-wide · 28 in F02N
#4 Oshkosh Defense, LLC 2.02x 40 → 81 company-wide · 24 in F02N
#5 Auto-Kabel Management GmbH 2.00x 14 → 28 company-wide · 6 in F02N

F02N grants by year, peak 2017 (393)

US utility-patent grants per year in F02N, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 28% versus 2015–2019.

Cummins

57
Briggs & Stratton

56
The Noco

28
Borgwarner

26
Remy

26
Valeo Equipements…

25
Oshkosh Defense

24
Bombardier Recreationa…

17
Andreas Stihl & Kg

16
Paccar

15
Schumacher Electric

13
Seg Automotive Germany

12

What this shows Ford Global is the most active filer in F02N, holding 509 of the 3,467 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 F02N
Rank	Company	Patents in F02N
#1	Cummins Inc.	57
#2	Briggs & Stratton, LLC	56
#3	The Noco Company	28
#4	BorgWarner Inc.	26
#5	Remy Technologies, LLC	26
#6	Valeo Equipements Electriques Moteur	25
#7	Oshkosh Defense, LLC	24
#8	Bombardier Recreational Products Inc.	17
#9	Andreas Stihl AG & Co. KG	16
#10	Paccar Inc	15
#11	Schumacher Electric Corporation	13
#12	SEG Automotive Germany GmbH	12
#13	Shenzhen Zhanpusida Technology Co., Ltd.	12
#14	Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha	11
#15	Linde Hydraulics GmbH & Co. KG	10
#16	Northstar Battery Company, LLC	9
#17	Mitsuba Corporation	8
#18	Starting Industrial Co., Ltd.	8
#19	Jatco Ltd	7
#20	Shindengen Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd.	7

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading F02N 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 F02N assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F02N. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near F02N's 3,467-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for F02N (#297 of 670 by volume ; lead share 14.7%) - not the F02 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

D04H 3,452 C22F 3,437 E01C 3,503 B63H 3,529

Nearest by lead-assignee share

F02C 14.7% B62J 14.6% F25J 14.8% H03H 15.0%

Questions about F02N

Which company holds the most patents in F02N?

Ford Global Technologies, LLC leads F02N with 509 patents (1.6% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 58% of class grants.

Which F02N assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in F02N, Shenzhen Carku Technology Co., Limited shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (6.33x: 6 grants in 2019–2021 → 38 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does F02N compare inside parent class F02?

Inside F02 (Combustion ENGINES; Hot-gas OR Combustion-product Engine Plants), F02N ranks #6 of 9 subclasses by grant volume and holds 4.7% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is F02D (16,949 grants).

What to do with this data

F02N in context - here's where to go next.

Cummins Inc. leads F02N with 57 grants in this class. See full portfolio
F02N ranks #297 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class F02, the largest sibling subclass is F02D with 16,949 grants. Explore F02D

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

Methodology - F02N figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (3,467 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.