CPC technology class · G02

G02C - Spectacles

Spectacles; sunglasses or goggles insofar as they have the same features as spectacles; contact lenses. 6,144 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

6,144
US patents granted: #3/3
in G02: 3.5%
G02 class share: +21%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Spectacles ranks #231 of 670 CPC technology areas - 6,144 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 21% over five years.

#231
of 670 CPC technology areas: 6,144
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Essilor International
leading assignee (397): +21%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How G02C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, G02C recorded 2,986 grants versus 2,462 in 2015–2019 (+21% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 667 grants and bottomed in 2016 at 373 (+79% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Essilor International holds 6.5% of the class ; the top three share 15.8%.

Leaderboard read

G02C concentration, lead at 6.5%

Essilor International leads this historical grant record at 6.5% of G02C - foreign corporation assignees hold 52% of class grants (2,268 of 4,325). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 6.5%
Top three share: 15.8%
Lead over #2: 37

Where G02C sits inside G02

Among 3 subclasses in G02 (Optics), G02C ranks #3 and holds 3.5% of the parent class's 174,596 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

G02B 115,576 G02F 52,876

Rising assignees active in G02C

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 Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC 1285x 0 → 1,285 company-wide · 59 in G02C
#2 Shenzhen Shokz Co., Ltd. 288x 0 → 288 company-wide · 68 in G02C
#3 Innovega, Inc. 23x 1 → 23 company-wide · 25 in G02C
#4 Twenty Twenty Therapeutics LLC 22x 1 → 22 company-wide · 6 in G02C
#5 Hoya Optical Labs Of America, Inc. 16x 1 → 16 company-wide · 19 in G02C

G02C grants by year, peak 2019 (667)

US utility-patent grants per year in G02C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 21% versus 2015–2019.

Essilor International

397
Johnson & Johnson…

360
Snap

212
Carl Zeiss Vision…

149
Verily Life Sciences

147
Hoya Lens Thailand

114
Magic Leap

109
Essilor International…

109
Alcon

107
Tectus

100
Mitsui Chemicals

78
Brien Holden Vision…

72

What this shows Essilor International is the most active filer in G02C, holding 397 of the 6,144 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 G02C
Rank	Company	Patents in G02C
#1	Essilor International	397
#2	Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.	360
#3	Snap Inc.	212
#4	Carl Zeiss Vision International GmbH	149
#5	Verily Life Sciences LLC	147
#6	Hoya Lens Thailand Ltd.	114
#7	Magic Leap, Inc.	109
#8	Essilor International (Compagnie Generale d'Optique)	109
#9	Alcon Inc.	107
#10	Tectus Corporation	100
#11	Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.	78
#12	Brien Holden Vision Institute Limited	72
#13	Novartis AG	70
#14	Coopervision International Limited	70
#15	Shenzhen Shokz Co., Ltd.	68
#16	AMO Groningen B.V.	66
#17	Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC	59
#18	Facebook Technologies, LLC	58
#19	Oakley, Inc.	58
#20	e-Vision Smart Optics, Inc.	53

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading G02C 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 G02C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in G02C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near G02C's 6,144-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for G02C (#231 of 670 by volume ; lead share 6.5%) - not the G02 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

C25D 6,127 B25B 6,226 E04H 6,263 A43B 6,010

Nearest by lead-assignee share

H04N 6.4% B41P 6.5% B81B 6.4% B23Q 6.4%

Questions about G02C

Which company holds the most patents in G02C?

Essilor International leads G02C with 397 patents (6.5% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 52% of class grants.

Which G02C assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in G02C, Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (1285x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 1,285 in 2022–2024) while holding 59 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does G02C compare inside parent class G02?

Inside G02 (Optics), G02C ranks #3 of 3 subclasses by grant volume and holds 3.5% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is G02B (115,576 grants).

What to do with this data

G02C in context - here's where to go next.

Essilor International leads G02C with 397 grants in this class. See full portfolio
G02C ranks #231 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class G02, the largest sibling subclass is G02B with 115,576 grants. Explore G02B

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through 2026-05-15; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Methodology - G02C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (6,144 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.