CPC technology class · F17

F17B - Gas-holders OF Variable Capacity

Gas-holders of variable capacity. 5 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

5
US patents granted: F17
Parent CPC class: 2
Active assignees: +50%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Gas-holders OF Variable Capacity ranks #668 of 670 CPC technology areas - 5 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 50% over five years.

#668
of 670 CPC technology areas: 5
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Subsea 7 Norway As
leading assignee (2): +50%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Top assignee: Subsea 7 Norway AS (2 patents)

CPC subclass F17B - GAS-HOLDERS OF VARIABLE CAPACITY - covers 5 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class F17 (STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in F17B is shaped by 2 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Subsea 7 Norway AS leads with 2 patents, followed by Westech Engineering, Llc at 1 grants.

Filing activity in F17B is up 50% 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 F17B innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in F17B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 50% versus 2015–2019.

Subsea 7 Norway As

2
Westech Engineering

1

What this shows Subsea 7 Norway As is the most active filer in F17B, holding 2 of the 5 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 F17B
Rank	Company	Patents in F17B
#1	Subsea 7 Norway AS	2
#2	Westech Engineering, Llc	1

About This Class

CPC subclass F17B belongs to class F17.

5 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.

2 companies actively patent in this space.

Classification System

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system used by the USPTO and EPO.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class F17B?

CPC subclass F17B covers GAS-HOLDERS OF VARIABLE CAPACITY. It belongs to CPC class F17 (STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS), with 5 US utility patents granted since 2015.

How many patents have been filed in F17B?

5 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass F17B between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.

Which company holds the most patents in F17B?

Subsea 7 Norway AS leads F17B with 2 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.

How is patent data for F17B 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., F17) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like F17B 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.