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 grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

16,791
US patents granted: #3/14
in F16: 12.2%
F16 class share: +9%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Pipes ranks #113 of 670 CPC technology areas - 16,791 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 9% over five years.

#113
of 670 CPC technology areas: 16,791
US patents granted, 2015–2025: The Boeing
leading assignee (179): +9%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How F16L's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, F16L recorded 7,891 grants versus 7,216 in 2015–2019 (+9% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 1,765 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 1,238 (+43% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Saudi Arabian OIL Company holds 0.9% of the class ; the top three share 2.3%.

Leaderboard read

F16L concentration, lead at 0.9%

Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads this historical grant record at 0.9% of F16L - us corporation assignees hold 50% of class grants (5,024 of 9,983). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 0.9%
Top three share: 2.3%
Lead over #2: 32

Where F16L sits inside F16

Among 14 subclasses in F16 (Engineering Elements AND UNITS; General Measures FOR Producing AND Maintaining Effective Functioning OF Machines OR INSTALLATIONS; Thermal Insulation IN General), F16L ranks #3 and holds 12.2% of the parent class's 137,714 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

F16H 27,860 F16K 17,624 F16D 15,330 F16B 14,787 F16C 14,627 F16F 10,113 F16M 8,559 F16J 7,442

Rising assignees active in F16L

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 Danfoss Power Solutions II Technology A/S 35x 0 → 35 company-wide · 12 in F16L
#2 Cytiva US LLC 14x 0 → 14 company-wide · 6 in F16L
#3 SPM Oil & Gas Inc. 14x 4 → 55 company-wide · 11 in F16L
#4 Reinke Manufacturing Company, Inc. 13x 1 → 13 company-wide · 6 in F16L
#5 ASC Engineered Solutions, LLC 11x 5 → 57 company-wide · 66 in F16L

F16L grants by year, peak 2020 (1,765)

US utility-patent grants per year in F16L, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 9% versus 2015–2019.

Saudi Arabian Oil

154
Vallourec Oil And Gas…

122
Mueller International

111
Nippon Steel

99
Whirlpool

92
Eaton Intelligent…

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

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).

Classes near F16L's 16,791-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for F16L (#113 of 670 by volume ; lead share 1.1%) - not the F16 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

H04J 16,888 F02D 16,949 A63B 16,525 G01J 16,402

Nearest by lead-assignee share

E02D 1.0% B01F 1.0% C07B 1.1% A61P 1.1%

Questions about F16L

Which company holds the most patents in F16L?

The Boeing Company leads F16L with 179 patents (0.9% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 50% of class grants.

Which F16L assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in F16L, 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 12 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does F16L compare inside parent class F16?

Inside F16 (Engineering Elements AND UNITS; General Measures FOR Producing AND Maintaining Effective Functioning OF Machines OR INSTALLATIONS; Thermal Insulation IN General), F16L ranks #3 of 14 subclasses by grant volume and holds 12.2% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is F16H (27,860 grants).

What to do with this data

F16L in context - here's where to go next.

Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads F16L with 154 grants in this class. See full portfolio
F16L ranks #113 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class F16, the largest sibling subclass is F16H with 27,860 grants. Explore F16H

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

Methodology - F16L figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (16,791 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.