CPC technology class · H04
H04L - Transmission Of Digital Information
Transmission of digital information, e.g. telegraphic communication. 373,517 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.
- 373,517
- US patents granted
- #1/12
- in H04
- 36.3%
- H04 class share
- +11%
- 5-yr velocity
The verdict
According to USPTO PatentsView, Transmission Of Digital Information ranks #2 of 670 CPC technology areas - 373,517 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 11% over five years.
- #2
- of 670 CPC technology areas
- 373,517
- US patents granted, 2015–2025
- International Business…
- leading assignee (15,969)
- +11%
- grant velocity, last 5 yrs
How H04L's grant cadence moved
Between 2020–2024, H04L recorded 181,021 grants versus 163,010 in 2015–2019 (+11% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 39,593 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 28,734 (+38% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee International Business Machines Corporation holds 4.3% of the class ; the top three share 11.0%.
Leaderboard read
H04L concentration, lead at 4.3%
International Business Machines Corporation leads this historical grant record at 4.3% of H04L - us corporation assignees hold 62% of class grants (217,194 of 349,015). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.
- Leader's share
- 4.3%
- Top three share
- 11.0%
- Lead over #2
- 2,375
15,969 of 373,517 grants
of the class's recorded grants
more grants than Qualcomm Incorporated
Where H04L sits inside H04
Among 12 subclasses in H04 (Electric Communication Technique), H04L ranks #1 and holds 36.3% 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.
Rising assignees active in H04L
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 · 112 in H04L
- #2 Kyndryl, Inc. 478x 0 → 478 company-wide · 193 in H04L
- #3 Meta Platforms, Inc. 376x 2 → 751 company-wide · 289 in H04L
- #4 Block, Inc. 345x 1 → 345 company-wide · 61 in H04L
- #5 Salesforce, Inc. 334x 3 → 1,001 company-wide · 513 in H04L
H04L grants by year, peak 2020 (39,593)
US utility-patent grants per year in H04L, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 11% versus 2015–2019.
Who leads H04L?
The 12 most active assignees in Transmission OF Digital Information, e.g. Telegraphic Communication - wider bars mean more grants
- International…
International Business Machines Corporation
15,969 patents
- Qualcomm Incorporated
Qualcomm Incorporated
13,594 patents
- Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
11,697 patents
- Samsung
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
10,543 patents
- Lg
LG Electronics Inc.
9,062 patents
- Telefonaktiebolaget…
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Publ)
8,543 patents
- Cisco Technology
Cisco Technology, Inc.
7,502 patents
- Microsoft Technology…
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
7,301 patents
- Amazon
Amazon Technologies, Inc.
6,420 patents
- Intel 5,826
Intel Corporation
5,826 patents
- Google 5,565
Google LLC
5,565 patents
- Apple 5,438
Apple Inc.
5,438 patents
What this shows International… is the most active filer in H04L, holding 15,969 of the 373,517 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.
View data table
| Rank | Company | Patents in H04L |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | International Business Machines Corporation | 15,969 |
| #2 | Qualcomm Incorporated | 13,594 |
| #3 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 11,697 |
| #4 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 10,543 |
| #5 | LG Electronics Inc. | 9,062 |
| #6 | Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Publ) | 8,543 |
| #7 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | 7,502 |
| #8 | Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | 7,301 |
| #9 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | 6,420 |
| #10 | Intel Corporation | 5,826 |
| #11 | Google LLC | 5,565 |
| #12 | Apple Inc. | 5,438 |
| #13 | AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | 4,887 |
| #14 | Sony Group Corporation | 3,170 |
| #15 | NEC Corporation | 2,668 |
| #16 | VMware LLC | 2,618 |
| #17 | Oracle International Corporation | 2,589 |
| #18 | Dell Products L.P. | 2,431 |
| #19 | Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc. | 2,386 |
| #20 | Fujitsu Limited | 2,358 |
Footprint here vs. claim strategy
Each dot is a leading H04L 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.
Classes near H04L's 373,517-grant footprint
Nationwide nearest neighbors for H04L (#2 of 670 by volume ; lead share 4.3%) - not the H04 parent-class siblings above.
Nearest by grant volume
Questions about H04L
Which company holds the most patents in H04L?
Which H04L assignees grew fastest recently?
How does H04L compare inside parent class H04?
What to do with this data
H04L in context - here's where to go next.
- International Business Machines Corporation leads H04L with 15,969 grants in this class. See full portfolio
- H04L ranks #2 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
- Inside parent class H04, the largest sibling subclass is H04W with 236,882 grants. Explore H04W
Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through 2026-05-15; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.
Methodology - H04L figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (373,517 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.