PlainPatent

CPC technology class · H04

H04R - Loudspeakers

Loudspeakers, microphones, gramophone pick-ups or like acoustic electromechanical transducers; deaf-aid sets; public address systems. 33,502 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

33,502
US patents granted
H04
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+31%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Loudspeakers ranks #53 of 670 CPC technology areas - 33,502 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 31% over five years.

#53
of 670 CPC technology areas
33,502
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Apple
leading assignee (1,244)
+31%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Apple Inc. (1,244 patents)

CPC subclass H04R - LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS - covers 33,502 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class H04 (ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in H04R is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Apple Inc. leads with 1,244 patents, followed by Sonos, Inc. at 1,051 grants and Bose Corporation at 1,026.

Filing activity in H04R is up 31% 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 H04R innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in H04R, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 31% versus 2015–2019.

1,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 2,309

Who leads H04R?

The 12 most active assignees in LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Apple is the most active filer in H04R, holding 1,244 of the 33,502 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 H04R
Rank Company Patents in H04R
#1 Apple Inc. 1,244
#2 Sonos, Inc. 1,051
#3 Bose Corporation 1,026
#4 SONY Group Corporation 614
#5 Cirrus Logic, Inc. 576
#6 Starkey Laboratories, Inc. 550
#7 Cochlear Limited 520
#8 Oticon A/s 486
#9 Harman International Industries, Incorporated 450
#10 Google Llc 445
#11 Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation 402
#12 Amazon Technologies, Inc. 399
#13 GN Hearing A/s 383
#14 Goertek Inc. 382
#15 Yamaha Corporation 373
#16 AAC Technologies Pte. Ltd. 366
#17 Nokia Technologies OY 357
#18 Shenzhen Shokz Co., Ltd. 318
#19 Sonova Ag 317
#20 Knowles Electronics, Llc 312

About This Class

CPC subclass H04R belongs to class H04.

33,502 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 H04R 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 H04R assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in H04R. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 H04R assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in H04R. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 10152025 200400600800100012001400 Patents in H04R Avg claims / patent (company-wide) AppleSonosBoseSony GroupCirrus LogicStarkey LaboratoriesCochlearOticon A/SHarman International…GoogleDolby Laboratories Li…AmazonGn Hearing A/SGoertek
Top 14 H04R assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in H04R. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class H04R?
CPC subclass H04R covers LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS. It belongs to CPC class H04 (ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE), with 33,502 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in H04R?
33,502 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass H04R between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in H04R?
Apple Inc. leads H04R with 1,244 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for H04R 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., H04) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like H04R 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.