A44B BUTTONS, PINS, BUCKLES, SLIDE FASTENERS, OR THE LIKE (fastenings specially adapted for footwear A43C)
Description
A44B covers fastening devices and closures primarily used in clothing and textiles. This subclass includes buttons (of various materials and designs), pins, buckles, hooks, eyelets, and slide fasteners (zippers). It encompasses both the mechanical devices themselves and their manufacturing or application methods, covering traditional and innovative fastening solutions for garments, footwear, and fabric articles. Adjacent classes A44C (haberdashery articles) and A44F (corset components) address related but distinct accessory categories.
Filing statistics
CPC subclass A44B recorded 19,040 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings declined from 1,623 in 2013 to 1,202 in 2023 (-26%), peaking at 2,349 applications in 2017. The most active applicants in class A44 are YOSHIDA KOGYO (1,555 applications), YOSHIDA KOGYO (888 applications) and THE SWATCH GROUP RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (358 applications).
Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings
13 direct subcodes
Child Classifications
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- A44B 1/00 Buttons
- A44B 11/00 Buckles; Similar fasteners for interconnecting straps or the like, e.g. for safety belts
- A44B 13/00 Hook or eye fasteners
- A44B 15/00 Key-rings
- A44B 17/00 Press-button or snap fasteners
- A44B 18/00 Fasteners of the touch-and-close type; Making such fasteners
- A44B 19/00 Slide fasteners
- A44B 3/00 Collar-studs
- A44B 5/00 Sleeve-links
- A44B 6/00 Retainers or tethers for neckties, cravats, neckerchiefs, or the like, e.g. tie-clips, spring clips with attached tie-tethers, woggles, pins with associated sheathing members tetherable to clothing (tie-pins A44B9/08; decorative or ornamental aspects A44C)
- A44B 7/00 Cards for buttons, collar-studs, or sleeve-links
- A44B 9/00 Hat, scarf, or safety pins or the like (decorative or ornamental aspect A44C; hair pins A45D8/02; sewing needles D05B85/00)
- A44B 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
Top Applicants
Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class A44, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT
- YOSHIDA KOGYO JP 1,555
- YOSHIDA KOGYO 888
- THE SWATCH GROUP RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CH 358
- 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY (MINNESOTA MINING AND MANUFACTURING INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY) US 314
- APPLE US 234
- OMEGA CH 216
- GOERTEK TECHNOLOGY COMPANY 189
- APLIX FR 176
- FIDLOCK DE 149
- SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY KR 145