CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES

Description

E01 covers the design, construction, and structural engineering of transportation infrastructure including roads, railways, and bridges. This encompasses planning and building methods for surface layers, foundations, drainage systems, and protective structures integral to these transport routes. The class includes railway track systems, bridge components, and road surface technologies, but excludes maintenance of existing structures (covered under E01F) and specialized aspects like traffic control signaling or vehicle propulsion systems.

Filing statistics

IPC E01 recorded 495,194 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023, summed across its 5 subclasses. Annual filings grew from 18,059 in 2013 to 63,449 in 2023 (+251%), peaking at 72,372 applications in 2020. The most active applicants in class E01 are CHINA RAILWAY SIYUAN SURVEY AND DESIGN GROUP COMPANY (2,096 applications), CHANG AN UNIVERSITY (1,878 applications) and ROAD & BRIDGE INTERNATIONAL COMPANY (1,796 applications).

Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings