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CPC technology class · H04

H04K - Secret Communication

Secret communication; jamming of communication. 1,274 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

1,274
US patents granted
#11/12
in H04
0.1%
H04 class share
-13%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Secret Communication ranks #423 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,274 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 13% over five years.

#423
of 670 CPC technology areas
1,274
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Qualcomm Incorporated
leading assignee (58)
-13%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How H04K's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, H04K recorded 551 grants versus 635 in 2015–2019 (-13% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2017 at 150 grants and bottomed in 2022 at 96 (+56% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc. holds 2.4% of the class ; the top three share 4.6%.

Leaderboard read

H04K concentration, lead at 2.4%

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc. leads this historical grant record at 2.4% of H04K - us corporation assignees hold 75% of class grants (295 of 395). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
2.4%

30 of 1,274 grants

Top three share
4.6%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
14

more grants than XiDrone Systems, Inc.

Where H04K sits inside H04

Among 12 subclasses in H04 (Electric Communication Technique), H04K ranks #11 and holds 0.1% of the parent class's 1,028,415 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

H04L 373,517 H04W 236,882 H04N 191,323 H04B 101,407 H04M 49,631 H04R 33,502 H04J 16,888 H04Q 10,225

Rising assignees active in H04K

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 D-fend Solutions AD Ltd. 6.00x 1 → 6 company-wide · 8 in H04K
  2. #2 L3Harris Technologies, Inc. 4.94x 16 → 79 company-wide · 5 in H04K
  3. #3 Driving Management Systems, Inc. 2.00x 2 → 4 company-wide · 5 in H04K
  4. #4 Telepathy Labs, Inc. 1.70x 10 → 17 company-wide · 6 in H04K
  5. #5 Agency FOR Defense Development 1.65x 49 → 81 company-wide · 11 in H04K

H04K grants by year, peak 2017 (150)

US utility-patent grants per year in H04K, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 13% versus 2015–2019.

6080100120140160 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 66

Who leads H04K?

The 12 most active assignees in Secret COMMUNICATION; Jamming OF Communication - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Qualcomm Incorporated is the most active filer in H04K, holding 58 of the 1,274 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 H04K
Rank Company Patents in H04K
#1 BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc. 30
#2 XiDrone Systems, Inc. 16
#3 Federal Law Enforcement Development Services, Inc. 12
#4 Binj Laboratories, Inc. 12
#5 The Mitre Corporation 11
#6 Agency FOR Defense Development 11
#7 Personalized Media Communications LLC 10
#8 Plantronics, Inc. 9
#9 Global Tel*Link Corporation 9
#10 Bastille Networks, Inc. 9
#11 Cambridge Sound Management, Inc. 9
#12 D-fend Solutions AD Ltd. 8
#13 RavenWhite Security, Inc. 7
#14 Kara Partners LLC 7
#15 Inc Square, Co., Ltd 6
#16 Telepathy Labs, Inc. 6
#17 Gemalto M2M GmbH 6
#18 Dedrone Holdings, Inc. 6
#19 Department 13, Inc. 6
#20 L3Harris Technologies, Inc. 5

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading H04K 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 H04K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in H04K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 020406080 010203040 Patents in H04K Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Bae Systems Informatio…Xidrone SystemsFederal Law Enforcemen…Binj LaboratoriesThe MitreAgency For Defense…Personalized Media…PlantronicsGlobal Tel*LinkBastille NetworksCambridge Sound…D-fend Solutions AdRavenwhite SecurityKara Partners
Top 14 H04K assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in H04K. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near H04K's 1,274-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for H04K (#423 of 670 by volume ; lead share 4.6%) - not the H04 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

E01F 1,276 D06N 1,265 D21F 1,255 B21K 1,246

Nearest by lead-assignee share

G09B 4.6% G08G 4.5% G06Q 4.6% C08H 4.5%

Questions about H04K

Which company holds the most patents in H04K?
Qualcomm Incorporated leads H04K with 58 patents (2.4% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 75% of class grants.
Which H04K assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in H04K, D-fend Solutions AD Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (6.00x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 6 in 2022–2024) while holding 8 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does H04K compare inside parent class H04?
Inside H04 (Electric Communication Technique), H04K ranks #11 of 12 subclasses by grant volume and holds 0.1% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is H04L (373,517 grants).

What to do with this data

H04K in context - here's where to go next.

  • BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc. leads H04K with 30 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • H04K ranks #423 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class H04, the largest sibling subclass is H04L with 373,517 grants. Explore H04L

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

Methodology - H04K figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,274 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.