CPC technology class · F16

F16L - Pipes

Pipes; joints or fittings for pipes; supports for pipes, cables or protective tubing; means for thermal insulation in general. 16,791 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

16,791
US patents granted: F16
Parent CPC class: 20
Active assignees: +24%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Pipes ranks #113 of 670 CPC technology areas - 16,791 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 24% over five years.

#113
of 670 CPC technology areas: 16,791
US patents granted, 2015–2025: The Boeing
leading assignee (179): +24%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Top assignee: The Boeing Company (179 patents)

CPC subclass F16L - PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL - covers 16,791 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 F16L is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. The Boeing Company leads with 179 patents, followed by Vallourec OIL AND GAS France at 122 grants and Mueller International, Llc at 111.

Filing activity in F16L is up 24% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a sharp acceleration suggesting an emerging or fast-moving technology area. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is F16L innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in F16L, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 24% versus 2015–2019.

Saudi Arabian Oil

154
Vallourec Oil And Gas…

122
Mueller International

111
Nippon Steel

99
Whirlpool

92
Eaton Intelligent Pow…

84
Airbus Operations

77
Victaulic

77
Norma Germany

75
Technip France

74
Saipem S P A

74
Colder Products

73

What this shows The Boeing is the most active filer in F16L, holding 179 of the 16,791 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 F16L
Rank	Company	Patents in F16L
#1	Saudi Arabian OIL Company	154
#2	Vallourec OIL AND GAS France	122
#3	Mueller International, Llc	111
#4	Nippon Steel Corporation	99
#5	Whirlpool Corporation	92
#6	Eaton Intelligent Power Limited	84
#7	Airbus Operations Limited	77
#8	Victaulic Company	77
#9	Norma Germany Gmbh	75
#10	Technip France	74
#11	Saipem S.p.a.	74
#12	Colder Products Company	73
#13	Trinity Bay Equipment Holdings, Llc	70
#14	Hilti Aktiengesellschaft	68
#15	ASC Engineered Solutions, Llc	66
#16	Swagelok Company	65
#17	GE OIL & GAS UK Ltd	63
#18	TT Technologies, Inc.	63
#19	JFE Steel Corporation	62
#20	Commscope Technologies Llc	60

About This Class

CPC subclass F16L belongs to class F16.

16,791 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 F16L 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 F16L assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F16L. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class F16L?

CPC subclass F16L covers PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL. 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 16,791 US utility patents granted since 2015.

How many patents have been filed in F16L?

16,791 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass F16L between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.

Which company holds the most patents in F16L?

The Boeing Company leads F16L with 179 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.

How is patent data for F16L 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 F16L 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.