PlainPatent

CPC technology class · A42

A42B - Hats

Hats; head coverings. 2,474 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

2,474
US patents granted
#1/2
in A42
93.2%
A42 class share
+28%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Hats ranks #346 of 670 CPC technology areas - 2,474 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 28% over five years.

#346
of 670 CPC technology areas
2,474
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Bell Sports
leading assignee (95)
+28%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How A42B's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, A42B recorded 1,256 grants versus 978 in 2015–2019 (+28% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 277 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 138 (+101% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Bell Sports, Inc. holds 3.8% of the class ; the top three share 7.6%.

Leaderboard read

A42B concentration, lead at 3.8%

Bell Sports, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 3.8% of A42B - us corporation assignees hold 73% of class grants (930 of 1,278). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
3.8%

95 of 2,474 grants

Top three share
7.6%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
46

more grants than Riddell, Inc.

Where A42B sits inside A42

Among 2 subclasses in A42 (Headwear), A42B ranks #1 and holds 93.2% of the parent class's 2,654 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

A42C 180

Rising assignees active in A42B

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 Alpinestars Research S.P.A. 11x 1 → 11 company-wide · 6 in A42B
  2. #2 Schuberth GmbH 7.00x 0 → 7 company-wide · 8 in A42B
  3. #3 Tate Technology, LLC 6.00x 1 → 6 company-wide · 6 in A42B
  4. #4 Lift Airborne Technologies LLC 6.00x 0 → 6 company-wide · 5 in A42B
  5. #5 Vicis IP, LLC 5.00x 3 → 15 company-wide · 17 in A42B

A42B grants by year, peak 2019 (277)

US utility-patent grants per year in A42B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 28% versus 2015–2019.

100150200250300 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 204

Who leads A42B?

The 12 most active assignees in HATS; Head Coverings - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Bell Sports is the most active filer in A42B, holding 95 of the 2,474 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 A42B
Rank Company Patents in A42B
#1 Bell Sports, Inc. 95
#2 Riddell, Inc. 49
#3 Bauer Hockey LLC 44
#4 Kranos IP Corporation 34
#5 Gentex Corporation 31
#6 Mips AB 31
#7 Stryker Corporation 27
#8 Shoei Co., Ltd. 24
#9 Lincoln Global, Inc. 22
#10 Wilcox Industries Corp. 22
#11 Revision Military S.a.r.L. 21
#12 Vicis IP, LLC 17
#13 Brainguard Technologies, Inc. 16
#14 DRÄGER Safety AG & Co. Kgaa 14
#15 ZIH Corp. 14
#16 Illumagear, Inc. 14
#17 Sport Maska Inc. 13
#18 Racing Optics, Inc. 13
#19 Galvion Ltd. 13
#20 Lionhead Helmet Intellectual Properties, LP 13

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A42B 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 A42B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A42B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 0510152025 020406080100 Patents in A42B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Bell SportsRiddellBauer HockeyKranos IpGentexMips AbStrykerShoeiLincoln GlobalWilcox IndustriesRevision Military r LVicis IpBrainguardDrÄGer Safety & Kgaa
Top 14 A42B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A42B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near A42B's 2,474-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A42B (#346 of 670 by volume ; lead share 3.8%) - not the A42 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

C09C 2,483 B26B 2,460 G04G 2,450 G21C 2,434

Nearest by lead-assignee share

C05C 3.9% B67D 3.9% G01P 3.9% F41C 3.9%

Questions about A42B

Which company holds the most patents in A42B?
Bell Sports, Inc. leads A42B with 95 patents (3.8% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 73% of class grants.
Which A42B assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A42B, Alpinestars Research S.P.A. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (11x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 11 in 2022–2024) while holding 6 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does A42B compare inside parent class A42?
Inside A42 (Headwear), A42B ranks #1 of 2 subclasses by grant volume and holds 93.2% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A42C (180 grants).

What to do with this data

A42B 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 - A42B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (2,474 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.