PlainPatent

CPC technology class · A43

A43D - Machines

Machines, tools, equipment or methods for manufacturing or repairing footwear. 1,044 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

1,044
US patents granted
#3/3
in A43
11.8%
A43 class share
+21%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Machines ranks #453 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,044 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 21% over five years.

#453
of 670 CPC technology areas
1,044
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Nike
leading assignee (527)
+21%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How tightly A43D concentrates

Nike, Inc. holds 50.5% of A43D's recorded grants (527 of 1,044) - 456 more than adidas AG. Across complete PatentsView years, the class peaked in 2020 at 117 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 59 (+98% peak-over-trough). Equal-window velocity 2020–2024 vs 2015–2019: +21% (527 vs 437 grants).

Leaderboard read

A43D concentration, lead at 50.5%

Nike, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 50.5% of A43D - us corporation assignees hold 77% of class grants (644 of 836). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
50.5%

527 of 1,044 grants

Top three share
60.5%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
456

more grants than adidas AG

Where A43D sits inside A43

Among 3 subclasses in A43 (Footwear), A43D ranks #3 and holds 11.8% of the parent class's 8,847 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

A43B 6,010 A43C 1,793

Rising assignees active in A43D

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 Kornit Digital Technologies Ltd. 11x 1 → 11 company-wide · 5 in A43D
  2. #2 O2 Partners, LLC 7.33x 3 → 22 company-wide · 5 in A43D
  3. #3 Asics Corporation 3.46x 26 → 90 company-wide · 23 in A43D
  4. #4 OTO Industry (Wuhan) Co., Ltd. 2.00x 0 → 2 company-wide · 6 in A43D
  5. #5 Chaei Hsin Enterprise Co., Ltd. 1.33x 3 → 4 company-wide · 5 in A43D

A43D grants by year, peak 2020 (117)

US utility-patent grants per year in A43D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 21% versus 2015–2019.

406080100120 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 73

Who leads A43D?

The 12 most active assignees in Machines, Tools, Equipment OR Methods FOR Manufacturing OR Repairing Footwear - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Nike is the most active filer in A43D, holding 527 of the 1,044 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 A43D
Rank Company Patents in A43D
#1 Nike, Inc. 527
#2 adidas AG 71
#3 Under Armour, Inc. 34
#4 Asics Corporation 23
#5 Reebok International Limited 11
#6 New Balance Athletics, Inc. 11
#7 POU Chen Corporation 9
#8 Superfeet Worldwide LLC 7
#9 Puma SE 6
#10 Aetrex Worldwide, Inc. 6
#11 The Topline Corporation 6
#12 OTO Industry (Wuhan) Co., Ltd. 6
#13 Dynasty Footwear, Ltd. 5
#14 O2 Partners, LLC 5
#15 Kornit Digital Technologies Ltd. 5
#16 Chaei Hsin Enterprise Co., Ltd. 5
#17 Wolverine Outdoors, Inc. 4
#18 Lululemon Athletica Canada Inc. 4
#19 Sport Maska Inc. 4
#20 Orpyx Medical Technologies Inc. 4

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A43D 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 A43D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A43D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 5101520 -2000200400600 Patents in A43D Avg claims / patent (company-wide) NikeadidasUnder ArmourAsicsReebok InternationalNew Balance AthleticsPou ChenSuperfeet WorldwidePuma SeAetrex WorldwideThe ToplineOto Industry (Wuhan)Dynasty FootwearO2 Partners
Top 14 A43D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A43D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near A43D's 1,044-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A43D (#453 of 670 by volume ; lead share 50.5%) - not the A43 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B31F 1,044 B25G 1,041 G04C 1,040 C09G 1,039

Nearest by lead-assignee share

A43C 52.7% A43B 44.8% B62L 33.0% B66B 33.0%

Questions about A43D

Which company holds the most patents in A43D?
Nike, Inc. leads A43D with 527 patents (50.5% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 77% of class grants.
Which A43D assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A43D, Kornit Digital Technologies Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (11x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 11 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does A43D compare inside parent class A43?
Inside A43 (Footwear), A43D ranks #3 of 3 subclasses by grant volume and holds 11.8% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A43B (6,010 grants).

What to do with this data

A43D 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 - A43D figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,044 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.