PlainPatent

CPC technology class · A42

A42C - Manufacturing Or Trimming Head Coverings

Manufacturing or trimming head coverings, e.g. hats. 180 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

180
US patents granted
#2/2
in A42
6.8%
A42 class share
+8%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Manufacturing Or Trimming Head Coverings ranks #605 of 670 CPC technology areas - 180 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 8% over five years.

#605
of 670 CPC technology areas
180
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Riddell
leading assignee (12)
+8%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How A42C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, A42C recorded 84 grants versus 78 in 2015–2019 (+8% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 26 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 8 (+225% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Riddell, Inc. holds 6.7% of the class ; the top three share 17.2%.

Leaderboard read

A42C concentration, lead at 6.7%

Riddell, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 6.7% of A42C - us corporation assignees hold 71% of class grants (74 of 104). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
6.7%

12 of 180 grants

Top three share
17.2%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
2

more grants than Brainguard Technologies, Inc.

Where A42C sits inside A42

Among 2 subclasses in A42 (Headwear), A42C ranks #2 and holds 6.8% 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.

A42B 2,474

Rising assignees active in A42C

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 Bell Sports, Inc. 1.30x 54 → 70 company-wide · 9 in A42C
  2. #2 Bauer Hockey LLC 0.86x 70 → 60 company-wide · 7 in A42C
  3. #3 Riddell, Inc. 0.46x 37 → 17 company-wide · 12 in A42C
  4. #4 Yupoong, Inc. 0.40x 10 → 4 company-wide · 5 in A42C

A42C grants by year, peak 2019 (26)

US utility-patent grants per year in A42C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 8% versus 2015–2019.

51015202530 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 17

Who leads A42C?

The 12 most active assignees in Manufacturing OR Trimming Head Coverings, e.g. Hats - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Riddell is the most active filer in A42C, holding 12 of the 180 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 A42C
Rank Company Patents in A42C
#1 Riddell, Inc. 12
#2 Brainguard Technologies, Inc. 10
#3 Bell Sports, Inc. 9
#4 Bauer Hockey LLC 7
#5 Yupoong, Inc. 5
#6 Fox Head, Inc. 4
#7 Shenzhen Qianhai Livall IOT Technology Co., Ltd. 4
#8 Reebok International Limited 3
#9 Tecmen Electronics Co., Ltd 3
#10 Vicis IP, LLC 3
#11 Cranial Technologies, Inc. 3
#12 A.C.E. International Company, Inc. 3
#13 Shoei Co., Ltd. 2
#14 Revision Military S.a.r.L. 2
#15 Stahls' Inc. 2
#16 Nemo Equipment, Inc. 2
#17 Galvion Ltd. 2
#18 Tate Technology, LLC 2
#19 Schuberth GmbH 2
#20 Rosecroft Components, Inc. 2

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A42C 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 A42C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A42C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 0510152025 051015 Patents in A42C Avg claims / patent (company-wide) RiddellBrainguardBell SportsBauer HockeyYupoongFox HeadShenzhen Qianhai…Reebok InternationalTecmenVicis IpCranialA C E InternationalShoeiRevision Military r L
Top 14 A42C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A42C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Questions about A42C

Which company holds the most patents in A42C?
Riddell, Inc. leads A42C with 12 patents (6.7% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 71% of class grants.
Which A42C assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A42C, Bell Sports, Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (1.30x: 54 grants in 2019–2021 → 70 in 2022–2024) while holding 9 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does A42C compare inside parent class A42?
Inside A42 (Headwear), A42C ranks #2 of 2 subclasses by grant volume and holds 6.8% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A42B (2,474 grants).

What to do with this data

A42C 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 - A42C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (180 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.