CPC technology class · F17

F17D - Pipe-line Systems

Pipe-line systems; pipe-lines. 1,470 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

1,470
US patents granted: #2/3
in F17: 26.4%
F17 class share: -15%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Pipe-line Systems ranks #407 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,470 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 15% over five years.

#407
of 670 CPC technology areas: 1,470
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Saudi Arabian Oil
leading assignee (69): -15%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How F17D's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, F17D recorded 603 grants versus 711 in 2015–2019 (-15% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2017 at 150 grants and bottomed in 2022 at 112 (+34% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Chengdu Qinchuan IOT Technology Co., Ltd. holds 2.4% of the class ; the top three share 5.9%.

Leaderboard read

F17D concentration, lead at 2.4%

Chengdu Qinchuan IOT Technology Co., Ltd. leads this historical grant record at 2.4% of F17D - us corporation assignees hold 51% of class grants (269 of 531). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 2.4%
Top three share: 5.9%
Lead over #2: 5

Where F17D sits inside F17

Among 3 subclasses in F17 (Storing OR Distributing Gases OR Liquids), F17D ranks #2 and holds 26.4% of the parent class's 5,576 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

F17C 4,101 F17B 5

Rising assignees active in F17D

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 Chengdu Qinchuan IOT Technology Co., Ltd. 20x 9 → 179 company-wide · 36 in F17D
#2 Marathon Petroleum Company LP 5.41x 17 → 92 company-wide · 19 in F17D
#3 Vortex Pipe Systems LLC 2.83x 6 → 17 company-wide · 7 in F17D
#4 Itron, Inc. 1.87x 68 → 127 company-wide · 8 in F17D
#5 Adey Holdings (2008) Limited 1.71x 14 → 24 company-wide · 6 in F17D

F17D grants by year, peak 2017 (150)

US utility-patent grants per year in F17D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 15% versus 2015–2019.

Chengdu Qinchuan Iot…

36
Kohler Mira

31
Marathon Petroleum

19
Hifi Engineering

12
Wint Wi

12
Mueller International

11
Trinity Bay Equipment…

11
Aperia

11
Liquidpower Specialty…

11
Phillips 66

9
Itron

8
Brandeis University

8

What this shows Saudi Arabian Oil is the most active filer in F17D, holding 69 of the 1,470 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 F17D
Rank	Company	Patents in F17D
#1	Chengdu Qinchuan IOT Technology Co., Ltd.	36
#2	Kohler Mira Limited	31
#3	Marathon Petroleum Company LP	19
#4	Hifi Engineering Inc.	12
#5	Wint WI Ltd	12
#6	Mueller International, LLC	11
#7	Trinity Bay Equipment Holdings, LLC	11
#8	Aperia Technologies, Inc.	11
#9	LiquidPower Specialty Products Inc.	11
#10	Phillips 66 Company	9
#11	Itron, Inc.	8
#12	Brandeis University	8
#13	Mobile Technology Corporation	8
#14	Proteus Industries Inc.	8
#15	Atlas Copco Airpower, Naamloze Vennootschap	7
#16	Equinor Energy AS	7
#17	Reliance Worldwide Corporation	7
#18	Vortex Pipe Systems LLC	7
#19	Technip France	6
#20	Adey Holdings (2008) Limited	6

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading F17D 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 F17D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F17D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near F17D's 1,470-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for F17D (#407 of 670 by volume ; lead share 4.7%) - not the F17 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

C07J 1,454 B61D 1,451 B25H 1,500 D02G 1,439

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B44C 4.7% B66F 4.7% B41M 4.7% B61B 4.7%

Questions about F17D

Which company holds the most patents in F17D?

Saudi Arabian OIL Company leads F17D with 69 patents (2.4% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 51% of class grants.

Which F17D assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in F17D, Chengdu Qinchuan IOT Technology Co., Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (20x: 9 grants in 2019–2021 → 179 in 2022–2024) while holding 36 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does F17D compare inside parent class F17?

Inside F17 (Storing OR Distributing Gases OR Liquids), F17D ranks #2 of 3 subclasses by grant volume and holds 26.4% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is F17C (4,101 grants).

What to do with this data

F17D in context - here's where to go next.

Chengdu Qinchuan IOT Technology Co., Ltd. leads F17D with 36 grants in this class. See full portfolio
F17D ranks #407 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class F17, the largest sibling subclass is F17C with 4,101 grants. Explore F17C

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

Methodology - F17D figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,470 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.