CPC technology class · Y04

Y04S - Systems Integrating Technologies Related To Power Network…

Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation, communication or information technologies for improving the electrical power generation, transmission, distribution, management or usage, i.e. smart grids. 12,488 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

12,488
US patents granted: #1/1
in Y04: 100.0%
Y04 class share: -5%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Systems Integrating Technologies Related To Power Network… ranks #147 of 670 CPC technology areas - 12,488 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 5% over five years.

#147
of 670 CPC technology areas: 12,488
US patents granted, 2015–2025: General Electric
leading assignee (260): -5%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How Y04S's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, Y04S recorded 5,600 grants versus 5,910 in 2015–2019 (-5% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 1,559 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 865 (+80% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. holds 1.0% of the class ; the top three share 2.8%.

Leaderboard read

Y04S concentration, lead at 1.0%

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 1.0% of Y04S - us corporation assignees hold 66% of class grants (3,626 of 5,478). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 1.0%
Top three share: 2.8%
Lead over #2: 11

Rising assignees active in Y04S

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 Huawei Digital Power Technologies Co., Ltd. 245x 0 → 245 company-wide · 18 in Y04S
#2 Hitachi Energy Ltd 120x 0 → 120 company-wide · 22 in Y04S
#3 Strong Force TX Portfolio 2018, LLC 91x 0 → 91 company-wide · 38 in Y04S
#4 Hitachi Energy Switzerland AG 24x 7 → 171 company-wide · 26 in Y04S
#5 IoTecha Corp. 20x 1 → 20 company-wide · 5 in Y04S

Y04S grants by year, peak 2019 (1,559)

US utility-patent grants per year in Y04S, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 5% versus 2015–2019.

Schweitzer Engineering…

127
Abb Schweiz

116
Strong Force Iot…

110
Lutron Technology

99
Causam Energy

71
Itron

67
Digital Global Systems

66
Johnson Controls…

63
Lsis

62
Schneider Electric Usa

57
Chargepoint

54
Causam Enterprises

53

What this shows General Electric is the most active filer in Y04S, holding 260 of the 12,488 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 Y04S
Rank	Company	Patents in Y04S
#1	Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.	127
#2	ABB Schweiz AG	116
#3	Strong Force IoT Portfolio 2016, LLC	110
#4	Lutron Technology Company LLC	99
#5	Causam Energy, Inc.	71
#6	Itron, Inc.	67
#7	Digital Global Systems, Inc.	66
#8	Johnson Controls Technology Company	63
#9	Lsis Co., Ltd.	62
#10	Schneider Electric USA, Inc.	57
#11	Chargepoint, Inc.	54
#12	Causam Enterprises, Inc.	53
#13	Battelle Memorial Institute	51
#14	Enel X North America, Inc.	49
#15	Solaredge Technologies Ltd.	48
#16	Broadcom Corporation	45
#17	LANDIS+GYR Innovations, Inc.	45
#18	General Electric Technology GMBH	44
#19	Emerging Automotive, LLC	44
#20	WiTricity Corporation	41

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading Y04S 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 Y04S assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in Y04S. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near Y04S's 12,488-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for Y04S (#147 of 670 by volume ; lead share 2.1%) - not the Y04 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

A01H 12,482 H01G 12,443 C01P 12,347 G09B 12,324

Nearest by lead-assignee share

D02G 2.1% A61J 2.1% A23L 2.1% B01J 2.1%

Questions about Y04S

Which company holds the most patents in Y04S?

General Electric Company leads Y04S with 260 patents (1.0% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 66% of class grants.

Which Y04S assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in Y04S, Huawei Digital Power Technologies Co., Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (245x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 245 in 2022–2024) while holding 18 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

What to do with this data

Y04S in context - here's where to go next.

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. leads Y04S with 127 grants in this class. See full portfolio
Y04S ranks #147 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking

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

Methodology - Y04S figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (12,488 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.