PlainPatent

CPC technology class · F42

F42B - Explosive Charges

Explosive charges, e.g. for blasting, fireworks, ammunition. 3,745 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

3,745
US patents granted
F42
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+14%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Explosive Charges ranks #284 of 670 CPC technology areas - 3,745 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 14% over five years.

#284
of 670 CPC technology areas
3,745
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Raytheon
leading assignee (166)
+14%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Raytheon Company (166 patents)

CPC subclass F42B - EXPLOSIVE CHARGES, e.g. FOR BLASTING, FIREWORKS, AMMUNITION - covers 3,745 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class F42 (AMMUNITION; BLASTING). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in F42B is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Raytheon Company leads with 166 patents, followed by The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army at 165 grants and True Velocity IP Holdings, Inc. at 146.

Filing activity in F42B is up 14% 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 F42B innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in F42B, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 14% versus 2015–2019.

200250300350400450 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 215

Who leads F42B?

The 12 most active assignees in EXPLOSIVE CHARGES, e.g. FOR BLASTING, FIREWORKS, AMMUNITION - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Raytheon is the most active filer in F42B, holding 166 of the 3,745 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 F42B
Rank Company Patents in F42B
#1 Raytheon Company 166
#2 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army 165
#3 True Velocity IP Holdings, Inc. 146
#4 United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force 144
#5 Vista Outdoor Operations Llc 66
#6 BAE Systems Plc 50
#7 BAE Systems Information And Electronic Systems Integration Inc. 47
#8 Orbital Research Inc. 43
#9 Dynaenergetics Europe Gmbh 40
#10 Hunting Titan, Inc. 38
#11 Rheinmetall Waffe Munition Gmbh 37
#12 SAAB AB 30
#13 True Velocity, Inc. 30
#14 Omnitek Partners Llc 29
#15 RUAG Ammotec Gmbh 29
#16 Daicel Corporation 28
#17 Orbital ATK, Inc. 28
#18 BAE Systems Bofors AB 28
#19 MBDA France 23
#20 Federal Cartridge Company 23

About This Class

CPC subclass F42B belongs to class F42.

3,745 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 F42B 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 F42B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F42B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 F42B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F42B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 10152025 050100150200 Patents in F42B Avg claims / patent (company-wide) RaytheonThe United States of…True Velocity Ip Hold…United States of Amer…Vista Outdoor Operati…Bae SystemsBae Systems Informati…Orbital ResearchDynaenergetics EuropeHunting TitanRheinmetall Waffe Mun…Saab AbTrue VelocityOmnitek Partners
Top 14 F42B assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F42B. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class F42B?
CPC subclass F42B covers EXPLOSIVE CHARGES, e.g. FOR BLASTING, FIREWORKS, AMMUNITION. It belongs to CPC class F42 (AMMUNITION; BLASTING), with 3,745 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in F42B?
3,745 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass F42B between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in F42B?
Raytheon Company leads F42B with 166 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for F42B 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., F42) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like F42B 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.