CPC technology class · H04

H04S - Stereophonic Systems

Stereophonic systems. 7,918 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

7,918
US patents granted: #9/12
in H04: 0.8%
H04 class share: +27%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Stereophonic Systems ranks #195 of 670 CPC technology areas - 7,918 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 27% over five years.

#195
of 670 CPC technology areas: 7,918
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Dolby Laboratories Licensing
leading assignee (622): +27%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How H04S's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, H04S recorded 3,938 grants versus 3,105 in 2015–2019 (+27% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 868 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 347 (+150% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation holds 7.9% of the class ; the top three share 17.1%.

Leaderboard read

H04S concentration, lead at 7.9%

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation leads this historical grant record at 7.9% of H04S - us corporation assignees hold 53% of class grants (2,388 of 4,501). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 7.9%
Top three share: 17.1%
Lead over #2: 249

Where H04S sits inside H04

Among 12 subclasses in H04 (Electric Communication Technique), H04S ranks #9 and holds 0.8% 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 H04S

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 H04S
#2 Shenzhen Shokz Co., Ltd. 288x 0 → 288 company-wide · 43 in H04S
#3 Iyo Inc. 13x 0 → 13 company-wide · 8 in H04S
#4 Tround Inc. 8.00x 0 → 8 company-wide · 5 in H04S
#5 Beijing Bytedance Network Technology Co., Ltd. 7.60x 131 → 996 company-wide · 5 in H04S

H04S grants by year, peak 2019 (868)

US utility-patent grants per year in H04S, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 27% versus 2015–2019.

Dolby Laboratories…

622
Sonos

373
Dolby International Ab

358
Nokia Oy

349
Fraunhofer-gesellschaf…

278
Bose

148
Harman International…

140
Yamaha

140
Magic Leap

129
Facebook

91
Dts

84
Sony Interactive…

65

What this shows Dolby Laboratories… is the most active filer in H04S, holding 622 of the 7,918 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 H04S
Rank	Company	Patents in H04S
#1	Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation	622
#2	Sonos, Inc.	373
#3	Dolby International AB	358
#4	Nokia Technologies OY	349
#5	Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.	278
#6	Bose Corporation	148
#7	Harman International Industries, Incorporated	140
#8	Yamaha Corporation	140
#9	Magic Leap, Inc.	129
#10	Facebook Technologies, LLC	91
#11	DTS, Inc.	84
#12	Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.	65
#13	Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC	59
#14	Harman Becker Automotive Systems GMBH	53
#15	Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc.	51
#16	Shenzhen Shokz Co., Ltd.	43
#17	Starkey Laboratories, Inc.	42
#18	Creative Technology Corporation	41
#19	Biamp Systems, LLC	35
#20	Boomcloud 360 Inc.	34

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading H04S 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 H04S assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in H04S. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near H04S's 7,918-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for H04S (#195 of 670 by volume ; lead share 7.9%) - not the H04 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

A47B 7,915 G01P 7,932 E04B 7,959 B60H 7,970

Nearest by lead-assignee share

E03B 7.9% G03B 7.8% F25B 7.8% G09F 7.9%

Questions about H04S

Which company holds the most patents in H04S?

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation leads H04S with 622 patents (7.9% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 53% of class grants.

Which H04S assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in H04S, 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 H04S compare inside parent class H04?

Inside H04 (Electric Communication Technique), H04S ranks #9 of 12 subclasses by grant volume and holds 0.8% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is H04L (373,517 grants).

What to do with this data

H04S in context - here's where to go next.

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation leads H04S with 622 grants in this class. See full portfolio
H04S ranks #195 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 - H04S figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (7,918 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.