PlainPatent

CPC technology class · G02

G02B - Optical Elements

Optical elements, systems or apparatus. 115,576 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

115,576
US patents granted
G02
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+27%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Optical Elements ranks #13 of 670 CPC technology areas - 115,576 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 27% over five years.

#13
of 670 CPC technology areas
115,576
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Samsung
leading assignee (4,608)
+27%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (4,608 patents)

CPC subclass G02B - OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS - covers 115,576 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class G02 (OPTICS). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in G02B is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. leads with 4,608 patents, followed by Canon Kabushiki Kaisha at 2,525 grants and Fujifilm Corporation at 2,173.

Filing activity in G02B is up 27% 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 G02B innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in G02B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 27% versus 2015–2019.

6,0008,00010,00012,00014,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 7,422

Who leads G02B?

The 12 most active assignees in OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Samsung is the most active filer in G02B, holding 4,608 of the 115,576 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 G02B
Rank Company Patents in G02B
#1 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 4,608
#2 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha 2,525
#3 Fujifilm Corporation 2,173
#4 BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. 1,899
#5 Olympus Corporation 1,893
#6 SONY Group Corporation 1,572
#7 Apple Inc. 1,367
#8 Seiko Epson Corporation 1,332
#9 LG Innotek Co., Ltd. 1,183
#10 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc 1,164
#11 Magic Leap, Inc. 1,145
#12 Commscope Technologies Llc 1,090
#13 Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. 1,054
#14 Facebook Technologies, Llc 1,026
#15 Largan Precision Co., Ltd. 1,018
#16 3M Innovative Properties Company 991
#17 Nikon Corporation 777
#18 Meta Platforms Technologies, Llc 766
#19 Google Llc 746
#20 Corning Incorporated 698

About This Class

CPC subclass G02B belongs to class G02.

115,576 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 G02B 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 G02B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in G02B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 G02B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in G02B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 101214161820 010002000300040005000 Patents in G02B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) SamsungCanonFujifilmBoe Technology GroupOlympusSony GroupAppleSeiko EpsonLg InnotekMicrosoft Technology…Magic LeapCommscopePanasonic Intellectua…Facebook
Top 14 G02B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in G02B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class G02B?
CPC subclass G02B covers OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS. It belongs to CPC class G02 (OPTICS), with 115,576 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in G02B?
115,576 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass G02B between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in G02B?
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. leads G02B with 4,608 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for G02B 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., G02) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like G02B 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.