CPC technology class · F41

F41A - Functional Features OR Details Common TO BOTH Smallarms A…

Functional features or details common to both smallarms and ordnance, e.g. cannons; mountings for smallarms or ordnance. 3,993 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

3,993
US patents granted: F41
Parent CPC class: 20
Active assignees: +23%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Functional Features OR Details Common TO BOTH Smallarms A… ranks #274 of 670 CPC technology areas - 3,993 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 23% over five years.

#274
of 670 CPC technology areas: 3,993
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Smith & Wesson
leading assignee (86): +23%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Top assignee: Smith & Wesson Inc. (86 patents)

CPC subclass F41A - FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS COMMON TO BOTH SMALLARMS AND ORDNANCE, e.g. CANNONS; MOUNTINGS FOR SMALLARMS OR ORDNANCE - covers 3,993 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class F41 (WEAPONS). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in F41A is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Smith & Wesson Inc. leads with 86 patents, followed by SIG Sauer Inc. at 80 grants and Magpul Industries Corp. at 79.

Filing activity in F41A is up 23% 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 F41A innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in F41A, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 23% versus 2015–2019.

Smith & Wesson

86
Sig Sauer

80
Magpul Industries

79
Whg Properties

75
The United States of…

70
Sturm Ruger &

58
Lwrc International

49
Vista Outdoor Operati…

46
Glock Technology

43
Armaments Research

39
Biofire

34
Rheinmetall Waffe Mun…

29

What this shows Smith & Wesson is the most active filer in F41A, holding 86 of the 3,993 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

View data table

Top patent holders in CPC subclass F41A
Rank	Company	Patents in F41A
#1	Smith & Wesson Inc.	86
#2	SIG Sauer Inc.	80
#3	Magpul Industries Corp.	79
#4	WHG Properties, Llc	75
#5	The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army	70
#6	Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.	58
#7	LWRC International Llc	49
#8	Vista Outdoor Operations Llc	46
#9	Glock Technology Gmbh	43
#10	Armaments Research Company, Inc.	39
#11	Biofire Technologies Inc.	34
#12	Rheinmetall Waffe Munition Gmbh	29
#13	Heckler & KOCH Gmbh	29
#14	R A Brands L.l.c.	28
#15	Strike Industries, Inc.	27
#16	Crosman Corporation	24
#17	Franklin Armory Holdings, Inc.	23
#18	SAAB AB	21
#19	Savage Arms, Inc.	21
#20	Axon Enterprise, Inc.	19

About This Class

CPC subclass F41A belongs to class F41.

3,993 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 F41A 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 F41A assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F41A. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class F41A?

CPC subclass F41A covers FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS COMMON TO BOTH SMALLARMS AND ORDNANCE, e.g. CANNONS; MOUNTINGS FOR SMALLARMS OR ORDNANCE. It belongs to CPC class F41 (WEAPONS), with 3,993 US utility patents granted since 2015.

How many patents have been filed in F41A?

3,993 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass F41A between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.

Which company holds the most patents in F41A?

Smith & Wesson Inc. leads F41A with 86 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.

How is patent data for F41A 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., F41) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like F41A 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.