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 grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

33,502
US patents granted: #6/12
in H04: 3.3%
H04 class share: +14%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Loudspeakers ranks #53 of 670 CPC technology areas - 33,502 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 14% over five years.

#53
of 670 CPC technology areas: 33,502
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Apple
leading assignee (1,244): +14%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How H04R's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, H04R recorded 16,156 grants versus 14,146 in 2015–2019 (+14% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 3,536 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 2,026 (+75% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Apple Inc. holds 3.7% of the class ; the top three share 9.9%.

Leaderboard read

H04R concentration, lead at 3.7%

Apple Inc. leads this historical grant record at 3.7% of H04R - foreign corporation assignees hold 51% of class grants (12,090 of 23,645). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 3.7%
Top three share: 9.9%
Lead over #2: 193

Where H04R sits inside H04

Among 12 subclasses in H04 (Electric Communication Technique), H04R ranks #6 and holds 3.3% 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.

H04L 373,517 H04W 236,882 H04N 191,323 H04B 101,407 H04M 49,631 H04J 16,888 H04Q 10,225 H04S 7,918

Rising assignees active in H04R

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 · 117 in H04R
#2 Meta Platforms, Inc. 376x 2 → 751 company-wide · 6 in H04R
#3 Shenzhen Shokz Co., Ltd. 288x 0 → 288 company-wide · 318 in H04R
#4 Panasonic Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. 89x 0 → 89 company-wide · 12 in H04R
#5 Faurecia Clarion Electronics Co., Ltd. 69x 0 → 69 company-wide · 6 in H04R

H04R grants by year, peak 2020 (3,536)

US utility-patent grants per year in H04R, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 14% versus 2015–2019.

Apple

1,244
Sonos

1,051
Bose

1,026
Sony Group

614
Cirrus Logic

576
Starkey Laboratories

550
Cochlear

520
Oticon A/S

486
Harman International…

450
Google

445
Dolby Laboratories…

402
Amazon

399

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.

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

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).

Classes near H04R's 33,502-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for H04R (#53 of 670 by volume ; lead share 3.7%) - not the H04 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

H05B 33,418 H02M 33,952 C07C 32,521 Y02A 32,476

Nearest by lead-assignee share

H02K 3.7% H01H 3.7% C05B 3.7% B60B 3.7%

Questions about H04R

Which company holds the most patents in H04R?

Apple Inc. leads H04R with 1,244 patents (3.7% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 51% of class grants.

Which H04R assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in H04R, Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (1285x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 1,285 in 2022–2024) while holding 117 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does H04R compare inside parent class H04?

Inside H04 (Electric Communication Technique), H04R ranks #6 of 12 subclasses by grant volume and holds 3.3% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is H04L (373,517 grants).

What to do with this data

H04R in context - here's where to go next.

Apple Inc. leads H04R with 1,244 grants in this class. See full portfolio
H04R ranks #53 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 - H04R figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (33,502 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.