PlainPatent

CPC technology class · F16

F16F - Springs

Springs; shock-absorbers; means for damping vibration. 10,113 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

10,113
US patents granted
#7/14
in F16
7.3%
F16 class share
-9%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Springs ranks #171 of 670 CPC technology areas - 10,113 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 9% over five years.

#171
of 670 CPC technology areas
10,113
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Fox Factory
leading assignee (263)
-9%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How F16F's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, F16F recorded 4,302 grants versus 4,726 in 2015–2019 (-9% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 1,138 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 767 (+48% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Fox Factory, Inc. holds 2.6% of the class ; the top three share 6.2%.

Leaderboard read

F16F concentration, lead at 2.6%

Fox Factory, Inc. leads this historical grant record at 2.6% of F16F - foreign corporation assignees hold 66% of class grants (3,544 of 5,342). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
2.6%

263 of 10,113 grants

Top three share
6.2%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
54

more grants than Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG

Where F16F sits inside F16

Among 14 subclasses in F16 (Engineering Elements AND UNITS; General Measures FOR Producing AND Maintaining Effective Functioning OF Machines OR INSTALLATIONS; Thermal Insulation IN General), F16F ranks #7 and holds 7.3% of the parent class's 137,714 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

F16H 27,860 F16K 17,624 F16L 16,791 F16D 15,330 F16B 14,787 F16C 14,627 F16M 8,559 F16J 7,442

Rising assignees active in F16F

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 HL Mando Corporation 212x 0 → 212 company-wide · 15 in F16F
  2. #2 Prospira Corporation 21x 0 → 21 company-wide · 25 in F16F
  3. #3 Vibracoustic SE 19x 0 → 19 company-wide · 21 in F16F
  4. #4 Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. 18x 49 → 871 company-wide · 103 in F16F
  5. #5 Moshun, LLC 16x 0 → 16 company-wide · 25 in F16F

F16F grants by year, peak 2019 (1,138)

US utility-patent grants per year in F16F, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 9% versus 2015–2019.

4006008001,0001,200 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 514

Who leads F16F?

The 12 most active assignees in SPRINGS; SHOCK-ABSORBERS; Means FOR Damping Vibration - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Fox Factory is the most active filer in F16F, holding 263 of the 10,113 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 F16F
Rank Company Patents in F16F
#1 Fox Factory, Inc. 263
#2 Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG 209
#3 ZF Friedrichshafen AG 153
#4 KYB Corporation 145
#5 Sumitomo Riko Company Limited 130
#6 Exedy Corporation 120
#7 Firestone Industrial Products Company, LLC 114
#8 Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. 103
#9 Bridgestone Corporation 92
#10 Showa Corporation 90
#11 NHK Spring Co., Ltd. 89
#12 Beijing West Industries Co., Ltd. 89
#13 Tenneco Automotive Operating Company LLC 81
#14 Valeo Embrayages 81
#15 Goodrich Corporation 80
#16 thyssenkrupp AG 68
#17 thyssenkrupp Bilstein GmbH 57
#18 Mandom Corporation 53
#19 Driv Automotive Inc. 53
#20 Textron Innovations Inc. 45

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading F16F 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 F16F assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F16F. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 5101520 50100150200250300 Patents in F16F Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Fox FactorySchaeffler & KgZf FriedrichshafenKybSumitomo RikoExedyFirestone Industrial…Hitachi AstemoBridgestoneShowaNhk SpringBeijing West…Tenneco Automotive…Valeo Embrayages
Top 14 F16F assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F16F. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near F16F's 10,113-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for F16F (#171 of 670 by volume ; lead share 2.6%) - not the F16 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

F28D 10,118 F28F 10,136 A01K 10,071 H04Q 10,225

Nearest by lead-assignee share

A61D 2.6% C22F 2.6% G08B 2.6% C40B 2.6%

Questions about F16F

Which company holds the most patents in F16F?
Fox Factory, Inc. leads F16F with 263 patents (2.6% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 66% of class grants.
Which F16F assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in F16F, HL Mando Corporation shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (212x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 212 in 2022–2024) while holding 15 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does F16F compare inside parent class F16?
Inside F16 (Engineering Elements AND UNITS; General Measures FOR Producing AND Maintaining Effective Functioning OF Machines OR INSTALLATIONS; Thermal Insulation IN General), F16F ranks #7 of 14 subclasses by grant volume and holds 7.3% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is F16H (27,860 grants).

What to do with this data

F16F 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 - F16F figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (10,113 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.