PlainPatent

CPC technology class · A41

A41B - Shirts

Shirts; underwear; baby linen; handkerchiefs. 979 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

979
US patents granted
#2/6
in A41
11.4%
A41 class share
+48%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Shirts ranks #461 of 670 CPC technology areas - 979 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 48% over five years.

#461
of 670 CPC technology areas
979
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Nike
leading assignee (149)
+48%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How A41B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, A41B recorded 535 grants versus 362 in 2015–2019 (+48% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2021 at 111 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 41 (+171% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Nike, Inc. holds 15.2% of the class ; the top three share 19.8%.

Leaderboard read

A41B concentration, lead at 15.2%

Nike, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 15.2% of A41B - us corporation assignees hold 75% of class grants (391 of 518). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
15.2%

149 of 979 grants

Top three share
19.8%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
124

more grants than Under Armour, Inc.

Where A41B sits inside A41

Among 6 subclasses in A41 (Wearing Apparel), A41B ranks #2 and holds 11.4% of the parent class's 8,592 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

A41D 5,359 A41F 683 A41C 669 A41H 522 A41G 380

Rising assignees active in A41B

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. #1 The Fynder Group, Inc. 4.71x 7 → 33 company-wide · 8 in A41B
  2. #2 Flagship Brands, LLC 3.00x 2 → 6 company-wide · 8 in A41B
  3. #3 5.11, Inc. 2.17x 6 → 13 company-wide · 6 in A41B
  4. #4 Spanx, LLC 1.67x 12 → 20 company-wide · 20 in A41B
  5. #5 Falke KGaA 1.50x 2 → 3 company-wide · 5 in A41B

A41B grants by year, peak 2021 (111)

US utility-patent grants per year in A41B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 48% versus 2015–2019.

20406080100120 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 67

Who leads A41B?

The 12 most active assignees in SHIRTS; UNDERWEAR; Baby LINEN; Handkerchiefs - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Nike is the most active filer in A41B, holding 149 of the 979 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 A41B
Rank Company Patents in A41B
#1 Nike, Inc. 149
#2 Under Armour, Inc. 25
#3 HBI Branded Apparel Enterprises, LLC 20
#4 Spanx, LLC 20
#5 The Fynder Group, Inc. 8
#6 Flagship Brands, LLC 8
#7 Shock Doctor, Inc. 7
#8 Talon Technologies, Inc. 7
#9 IFGCure Holdings, LLC 7
#10 Hanes Operations Europe SAS 7
#11 Robotis Co., Ltd. 6
#12 BSN Medical GMBH 6
#13 5.11, Inc. 6
#14 HB Innovations, Inc. 6
#15 MAS Innovation (Private) Limited 6
#16 Okamoto Corporation 6
#17 Reebok International Limited 5
#18 Leaf Healthcare, Inc. 5
#19 Mast Industries (Far East) Limited 5
#20 Palarum LLC 5

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A41B 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 A41B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A41B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 051015202530 -50050100150200 Patents in A41B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) NikeUnder ArmourHbi Branded Apparel…SpanxThe Fynder GroupFlagship BrandsShock DoctorTalonIfgcure HoldingsHanes Operations…RobotisBsn Medical5 11Hb Innovations
Top 14 A41B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A41B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near A41B's 979-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A41B (#461 of 670 by volume ; lead share 15.2%) - not the A41 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

E01B 981 C01D 976 A23F 971 E01H 971

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B25D 15.3% A44B 15.4% H03H 15.0% B67C 15.5%

Questions about A41B

Which company holds the most patents in A41B?
Nike, Inc. leads A41B with 149 patents (15.2% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 75% of class grants.
Which A41B assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A41B, The Fynder Group, Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (4.71x: 7 grants in 2019–2021 → 33 in 2022–2024) while holding 8 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does A41B compare inside parent class A41?
Inside A41 (Wearing Apparel), A41B ranks #2 of 6 subclasses by grant volume and holds 11.4% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A41D (5,359 grants).

What to do with this data

A41B in context - here's where to go next.

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

Methodology - A41B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (979 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.