PlainPatent

CPC technology class · F16

F16H - Gearing

Gearing. 27,860 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

27,860
US patents granted
F16
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+10%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Gearing ranks #72 of 670 CPC technology areas - 27,860 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 10% over five years.

#72
of 670 CPC technology areas
27,860
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Hyundai Motor
leading assignee (1,326)
+10%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (1,326 patents)

CPC subclass F16H - GEARING - covers 27,860 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class F16 (ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in F16H is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Hyundai Motor Company leads with 1,326 patents, followed by Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha at 1,070 grants and ZF Friedrichshafen Ag at 904.

Filing activity in F16H is up 10% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a relatively steady filing pace. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is F16H innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in F16H, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 10% versus 2015–2019.

1,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,500 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 1,382

Who leads F16H?

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

patents

What this shows Hyundai Motor is the most active filer in F16H, holding 1,326 of the 27,860 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 F16H
Rank Company Patents in F16H
#1 Hyundai Motor Company 1,326
#2 Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha 1,070
#3 ZF Friedrichshafen Ag 904
#4 Schaeffler Technologies Ag & Co. KG 820
#5 Ford Global Technologies, Llc 718
#6 GM Global Technology Operations Llc 705
#7 Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 660
#8 KIA Motors Corporation 571
#9 Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. 361
#10 Jatco Ltd 342
#11 Deere & Company 322
#12 Allison Transmission, Inc. 298
#13 Aisin AW Co., Ltd. 285
#14 Borgwarner Inc. 230
#15 NTN Corporation 202
#16 Shimano Inc. 193
#17 Jtekt Corporation 186
#18 Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation (hsc) 183
#19 Caterpillar Inc. 175
#20 AUDI Ag 171

About This Class

CPC subclass F16H belongs to class F16.

27,860 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 F16H 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 F16H assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F16H. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 F16H assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F16H. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 5101520 050010001500 Patents in F16H Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Hyundai MotorToyota JidoshaZf FriedrichshafenSchaeffler & KgFord GlobalGm Global Technology…Honda MotorKia MotorsNissan MotorJatcoDeere &Allison TransmissionAisin AwBorgwarner
Top 14 F16H assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F16H. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class F16H?
CPC subclass F16H covers GEARING. It belongs to CPC class F16 (ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL), with 27,860 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in F16H?
27,860 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass F16H between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in F16H?
Hyundai Motor Company leads F16H with 1,326 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for F16H 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., F16) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like F16H 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.