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CPC technology class · D04

D04B - Knitting

Knitting. 1,864 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

1,864
US patents granted
#2/5
in D04
31.2%
D04 class share
+44%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Knitting ranks #373 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,864 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 44% over five years.

#373
of 670 CPC technology areas
1,864
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Nike
leading assignee (429)
+44%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How tightly D04B concentrates

Nike, Inc. holds 23.0% of D04B's recorded grants (429 of 1,864) - 381 more than Sofradim Production. Across complete PatentsView years, the class peaked in 2024 at 227 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 88 (+158% peak-over-trough). Equal-window velocity 2020–2024 vs 2015–2019: +44% (989 vs 686 grants).

Leaderboard read

D04B concentration, lead at 23.0%

Nike, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 23.0% of D04B - us corporation assignees hold 60% of class grants (726 of 1,220). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
23.0%

429 of 1,864 grants

Top three share
27.8%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
381

more grants than Sofradim Production

Where D04B sits inside D04

Among 5 subclasses in D04 (BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; Non-woven Fabrics), D04B ranks #2 and holds 31.2% of the parent class's 5,966 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

D04H 3,452 D04C 584 D04D 47 D04G 19

Rising assignees active in D04B

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 Mmi-ipco, LLC 5.00x 0 → 5 company-wide · 6 in D04B
  2. #2 AB Ludvig Svensson 5.00x 0 → 5 company-wide · 5 in D04B
  3. #3 Deckers Outdoor Corporation 3.18x 22 → 70 company-wide · 6 in D04B
  4. #4 Flagship Brands, LLC 3.00x 2 → 6 company-wide · 13 in D04B
  5. #5 Global Apparel Partners Inc. 3.00x 0 → 3 company-wide · 7 in D04B

D04B grants by year, peak 2024 (227)

US utility-patent grants per year in D04B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 44% versus 2015–2019.

50100150200250 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 148

Who leads D04B?

The 12 most active assignees in Knitting - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Nike is the most active filer in D04B, holding 429 of the 1,864 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 D04B
Rank Company Patents in D04B
#1 Nike, Inc. 429
#2 Sofradim Production 48
#3 adidas AG 41
#4 Santoni S.P.A. 30
#5 Shima Seiki MFG., Ltd. 24
#6 Lonati S.P.A. 22
#7 Federal-Mogul Powertrain LLC 19
#8 PAI Lung Machinery Mill Co., Ltd. 18
#9 Groz-beckert KG 17
#10 HBI Branded Apparel Enterprises, LLC 16
#11 Milliken & Company 15
#12 Warrior Sports, Inc. 15
#13 Btsr International S.P.A. 13
#14 Flagship Brands, LLC 13
#15 Tietex International, Ltd. 12
#16 Medi GMBH & Co. KG 12
#17 Biorez, Inc. 12
#18 Myant Inc. 10
#19 Ossur Iceland EHF 9
#20 Bedgear, LLC 9

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading D04B 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 D04B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in D04B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 5101520 -1000100200300400500 Patents in D04B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) NikeSofradim ProductionadidasSantoni S P AShima Seiki MfgLonati S P AFederal-mogul…Pai Lung Machinery…Groz-beckert KgHbi Branded Apparel…Milliken &Warrior SportsBtsr International S…Flagship Brands
Top 14 D04B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in D04B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near D04B's 1,864-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for D04B (#373 of 670 by volume ; lead share 23.0%) - not the D04 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B21C 1,874 E02B 1,837 B21B 1,895 F16G 1,830

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B64F 22.7% A24D 22.5% B62M 23.7% C03B 22.4%

Questions about D04B

Which company holds the most patents in D04B?
Nike, Inc. leads D04B with 429 patents (23.0% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 60% of class grants.
Which D04B assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in D04B, Mmi-ipco, LLC shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (5.00x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 5 in 2022–2024) while holding 6 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does D04B compare inside parent class D04?
Inside D04 (BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; Non-woven Fabrics), D04B ranks #2 of 5 subclasses by grant volume and holds 31.2% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is D04H (3,452 grants).

What to do with this data

D04B 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 - D04B figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,864 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.