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 filing trajectory.

180
US patents granted
A42
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+29%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Manufacturing OR Trimming HEAD Coverings ranks #605 of 670 CPC technology areas - 180 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 29% over five years.

#605
of 670 CPC technology areas
180
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Riddell
leading assignee (12)
+29%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Riddell, Inc. (12 patents)

CPC subclass A42C - MANUFACTURING OR TRIMMING HEAD COVERINGS, e.g. HATS - covers 180 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class A42 (HEADWEAR). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in A42C is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Riddell, Inc. leads with 12 patents, followed by Brainguard Technologies, Inc. at 10 grants and Bell Sports, Inc. at 9.

Filing activity in A42C is up 29% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a sharp acceleration suggesting an emerging or fast-moving technology area. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is A42C innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in A42C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 29% 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

About This Class

CPC subclass A42C belongs to class A42.

180 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.

20 companies actively patent in this space.

Classification System

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system used by the USPTO and EPO.

← All Technology Classes Technology Rankings →

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).

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 Liva…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).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class A42C?
CPC subclass A42C covers MANUFACTURING OR TRIMMING HEAD COVERINGS, e.g. HATS. It belongs to CPC class A42 (HEADWEAR), with 180 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in A42C?
180 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass A42C between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in A42C?
Riddell, Inc. leads A42C with 12 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for A42C collected?
Patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It covers all US granted utility patents and assigns CPC codes based on the technology described in each patent.
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
A CPC class (e.g., A42) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like A42C provide finer granularity within that category. PlainPatent organizes data at the subclass level (4-character codes) for the most useful view of technology domains.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent Editorial

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.