PlainPatent

CPC technology class · Y02

Y02C - Capture

Capture, storage, sequestration or disposal of greenhouse gases [ghg]. 4,229 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

4,229
US patents granted
Y02
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+8%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Capture ranks #264 of 670 CPC technology areas - 4,229 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 8% over five years.

#264
of 670 CPC technology areas
4,229
US patents granted, 2015–2025
L'air Liquide Societe…
leading assignee (124)
+8%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: L'air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour L'etude Et L'exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude (124 patents)

CPC subclass Y02C - CAPTURE, STORAGE, SEQUESTRATION OR DISPOSAL OF GREENHOUSE GASES [GHG] - covers 4,229 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class Y02 (TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in Y02C is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. L'air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour L'etude Et L'exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude leads with 124 patents, followed by Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company at 91 grants and Exxonmobil Research AND Engineering Company at 88.

Filing activity in Y02C is up 8% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a relatively steady filing pace. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is Y02C innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in Y02C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 8% versus 2015–2019.

250300350400450 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 264

Who leads Y02C?

The 12 most active assignees in CAPTURE, STORAGE, SEQUESTRATION OR DISPOSAL OF GREENHOUSE GASES [GHG] - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows L'air Liquide Societe… is the most active filer in Y02C, holding 124 of the 4,229 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 Y02C
Rank Company Patents in Y02C
#1 L'air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour L'etude Et L'exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude 124
#2 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company 91
#3 Exxonmobil Research AND Engineering Company 88
#4 UOP Llc 55
#5 King Abdullah University Of Science And Technology 52
#6 Johnson Matthey Public Limited Company 46
#7 Praxair Technology, Inc. 40
#8 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, Ltd. 40
#9 AIR Products AND Chemicals, Inc. 37
#10 Georgia Tech Research Corporation 35
#11 General Electric Technology Gmbh 34
#12 Korea Institute OF Energy Research 34
#13 Fluor Technologies Corporation 34
#14 Exxon Mobil Technology And Engineering Company 30
#15 Enverid Systems, Inc. 29
#16 Chevron U.s.a. Inc. 28
#17 Shell OIL Compny 25
#18 The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. 23
#19 Linde Gmbh 22
#20 Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.s. Llc 22

About This Class

CPC subclass Y02C belongs to class Y02.

4,229 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 Y02C 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 Y02C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in Y02C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 Y02C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in Y02C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 050100150 Patents in Y02C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) L'air Liquide Societe…Exxonmobil Upstream R…Exxonmobil Research A…UopKing Abdullah Univers…Johnson Matthey PublicPraxair TechnologyMitsubishi Heavy Indu…Air Products And Chem…Georgia Tech ResearchGeneral Electric Tech…Korea Institute Of En…FluorExxon Mobil Technolog…
Top 14 Y02C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in Y02C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class Y02C?
CPC subclass Y02C covers CAPTURE, STORAGE, SEQUESTRATION OR DISPOSAL OF GREENHOUSE GASES [GHG]. It belongs to CPC class Y02 (TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE), with 4,229 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in Y02C?
4,229 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass Y02C between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in Y02C?
L'air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour L'etude Et L'exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude leads Y02C with 124 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for Y02C 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., Y02) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like Y02C 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.