PlainPatent

CPC technology class · F15

F15B - Systems Acting By Means Of Fluids In General

Systems acting by means of fluids in general; fluid-pressure actuators, e.g. servomotors; details of fluid-pressure systems, not otherwise provided for. 7,094 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

7,094
US patents granted
#1/3
in F15
87.0%
F15 class share
+10%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Systems Acting By Means Of Fluids In General ranks #205 of 670 CPC technology areas - 7,094 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 10% over five years.

#205
of 670 CPC technology areas
7,094
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Hitachi Construction…
leading assignee (204)
+10%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How F15B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, F15B recorded 3,380 grants versus 3,085 in 2015–2019 (+10% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 845 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 491 (+72% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. holds 2.9% of the class ; the top three share 7.8%.

Leaderboard read

F15B concentration, lead at 2.9%

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. leads this historical grant record at 2.9% of F15B - foreign corporation assignees hold 63% of class grants (2,807 of 4,458). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
2.9%

204 of 7,094 grants

Top three share
7.8%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
19

more grants than Caterpillar Inc.

Where F15B sits inside F15

Among 3 subclasses in F15 (Fluid-pressure ACTUATORS; Hydraulics OR Pneumatics IN General), F15B ranks #1 and holds 87.0% of the parent class's 8,154 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

F15D 924 F15C 136

Rising assignees active in F15B

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. #1 Danfoss Power Solutions II Technology A/S 35x 0 → 35 company-wide · 17 in F15B
  2. #2 HD Hyundai Infracore Co., Ltd. 22x 0 → 22 company-wide · 6 in F15B
  3. #3 Moshun, LLC 16x 0 → 16 company-wide · 7 in F15B
  4. #4 Safoco, Inc. 11x 1 → 11 company-wide · 7 in F15B
  5. #5 Driv Automotive Inc. 10x 6 → 62 company-wide · 7 in F15B

F15B grants by year, peak 2020 (845)

US utility-patent grants per year in F15B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 10% versus 2015–2019.

400500600700800900 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 438

Who leads F15B?

The 12 most active assignees in Systems Acting BY Means OF Fluids IN GENERAL; Fluid-pressure Actuators, e.g. SERVOMOTORS; Details OF Fluid-pressure Systems, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Hitachi Construction… is the most active filer in F15B, holding 204 of the 7,094 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 F15B
Rank Company Patents in F15B
#1 Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. 204
#2 Caterpillar Inc. 185
#3 Deere & Company 164
#4 SMC Corporation 133
#5 Kubota Corporation 111
#6 Volvo Construction Equipment AB 102
#7 Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha 97
#8 Parker-Hannifin Corporation 97
#9 Komatsu Ltd. 94
#10 CNH Industrial America LLC 90
#11 KYB Corporation 86
#12 Woodward, Inc. 56
#13 Doosan Infracore Co., Ltd. 56
#14 Hydac Technology GMBH 56
#15 Festo SE & Co. KG 55
#16 Fisher Controls International LLC 49
#17 Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd 46
#18 Caterpillar Sarl 42
#19 Eaton Corporation 41
#20 ZF Friedrichshafen AG 40

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading F15B 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 F15B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F15B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 05101520 050100150200250 Patents in F15B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Hitachi Construction…CaterpillarDeere &SmcKubotaVolvo Construction…Kawasaki JukogyoParker-hannifinKomatsuCnh Industrial AmericaKybWoodwardDoosan InfracoreHydac Technology
Top 14 F15B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F15B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near F15B's 7,094-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for F15B (#205 of 670 by volume ; lead share 2.9%) - not the F15 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

F21K 7,021 A61H 6,990 B60J 6,966 H01P 7,237

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B08B 2.9% B63B 2.9% E05D 2.9% B03B 2.9%

Questions about F15B

Which company holds the most patents in F15B?
Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. leads F15B with 204 patents (2.9% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 63% of class grants.
Which F15B assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in F15B, Danfoss Power Solutions II Technology A/S shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (35x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 35 in 2022–2024) while holding 17 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does F15B compare inside parent class F15?
Inside F15 (Fluid-pressure ACTUATORS; Hydraulics OR Pneumatics IN General), F15B ranks #1 of 3 subclasses by grant volume and holds 87.0% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is F15D (924 grants).

What to do with this data

F15B in context - here's where to go next.

  • Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. leads F15B with 204 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • F15B ranks #205 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class F15, the largest sibling subclass is F15D with 924 grants. Explore F15D

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

Methodology - F15B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (7,094 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.