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CPC technology class · F16

F16J - Pistons

Pistons ; cylinders; sealings. 7,442 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

7,442
US patents granted
F16
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+12%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Pistons ranks #200 of 670 CPC technology areas - 7,442 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 12% over five years.

#200
of 670 CPC technology areas
7,442
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Nok
leading assignee (257)
+12%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: NOK Corporation (257 patents)

CPC subclass F16J - PISTONS ; CYLINDERS; SEALINGS - covers 7,442 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class F16 (ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in F16J is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. NOK Corporation leads with 257 patents, followed by United Technologies Corporation at 234 grants and Eagle Industry Co., Ltd. at 218.

Filing activity in F16J is up 12% 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 F16J innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in F16J, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 12% versus 2015–2019.

2004006008001,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 418

Who leads F16J?

The 12 most active assignees in PISTONS ; CYLINDERS; SEALINGS - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Nok is the most active filer in F16J, holding 257 of the 7,442 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 F16J
Rank Company Patents in F16J
#1 NOK Corporation 257
#2 United Technologies Corporation 234
#3 Eagle Industry Co., Ltd. 218
#4 Raytheon Technologies Corporation 187
#5 Aktiebolaget SKF 157
#6 Mahle International Gmbh 92
#7 Federal-mogul Burscheid Gmbh 66
#8 Federal-mogul Llc 65
#9 Carl Freudenberg KG 57
#10 Riken 55
#11 RTX Corporation 53
#12 Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. 50
#13 NTN Corporation 48
#14 Schaeffler Technologies Ag & Co. KG 43
#15 Fisher Controls International Llc 38
#16 Eagleburgmann Germany Gmbh & Co. KG 37
#17 MTU Aero Engines Ag 35
#18 Nippon Pillar Packing Co., Ltd. 35
#19 Saint-gobain Performance Plastics Corporation 33
#20 Kerr Machine Co. 33

About This Class

CPC subclass F16J belongs to class F16.

7,442 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 F16J 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 F16J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F16J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 F16J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F16J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 5101520 050100150200250300 Patents in F16J Avg claims / patent (company-wide) NokUnitedEagle IndustryRaytheonAktiebolaget SkfMahle InternationalFederal-mogul Bursche…Federal-mogulCarl Freudenberg KgRikenRtxPratt & Whitney CanadaNtnSchaeffler & Kg
Top 14 F16J assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F16J. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class F16J?
CPC subclass F16J covers PISTONS ; CYLINDERS; SEALINGS. It belongs to CPC class F16 (ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL), with 7,442 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in F16J?
7,442 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass F16J between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in F16J?
NOK Corporation leads F16J with 257 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for F16J 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., F16) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like F16J 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.