Company patents
Apex Brands, Inc.
Apex Brands, Inc. appears to be significantly shifting its patent strategy away from traditional manufacturing tools, with a notable decline in categories like Length / Distance Measurement, which saw a 75.0% YoY drop in 2025 and no patents so far in 2026, and Hand Tools, which, despite being 28.2% of its portfolio, experienced a 77.8% YoY decline in patenting activity in 2026. This suggests a potential strategic pivot, moving away from core areas that previously dominated its intellectual property.
Patent Trend by Technology Area
Yearly patent publications since 2023
Product themes
Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.
195 US filings (since 2023) · 7 categories · 16 themes
Design elements and integrated components that improve the usability, comfort, and versatility of hand tools, such as built-in lighting, vibration reduction, modular storage, or adjustable form factors.
Design and features of welding and soldering tools, fixtures, and accessories that enhance user safety, ergonomics, operational efficiency, and precise workpiece manipulation, including protective equipment and clamping mechanisms.
Tools and systems engineered for the precise installation, removal, or manipulation of specific components or fasteners, often involving specialized gripping, depth control, or extraction mechanisms.
Design and optimization of the mechanical components and power transmission systems within powered hand tools, including motors, gears, spindles, and impact mechanisms, for efficiency, durability, and compact form factor.
Integration of sensors, microcontrollers, and communication modules into hand tools to enable precise operation, remote configuration, and user guidance through real-time feedback or augmented reality.
Development of novel chemical compositions for fluxes, solders, and filler metals to improve material properties, enhance joint reliability, reduce defects, or meet specific application requirements like high-temperature reflow or specialized material joining.
Devices and methodologies for precisely measuring rotational force (torque) or linear pulling force (tension) within mechanical systems, frequently incorporating compensation for environmental variables like temperature.
Systems and methods for precisely measuring, monitoring, and regulating the longitudinal tension in continuous webs of material during roll-to-roll processes to prevent defects, reduce waste, and ensure consistent product quality.
Apparatus and methods for automatically winding or unwinding continuous materials such as webs, cables, conduits, or yarns onto or from spools, reels, or bobbins, including aspects like layering, coreless winding, and material supply.
Mechanical lock designs and components focused on resisting picking, unauthorized manipulation, forced entry, or other technical unlocking methods, often through complex internal mechanisms or robust materials.
Locks integrating electronic components for remote control, wireless communication, internet connectivity, and digital credential management, often including features for user identification and access monitoring.
Locking mechanisms specifically designed for automotive applications, recreational vehicles, or unique door types like bi-fold, sliding, or container doors, often incorporating specific safety, noise reduction, or operational features.
Integration and processing of data from diverse sensors (e.g., magnetometers, odometers, IMUs, vision sensors) to achieve robust and accurate positioning, especially in environments where GPS is unreliable or unavailable.
Technologies for non-contact measurement of distance, position, or 3D properties of a target object, often involving active emission and detection of light or radio frequency waves, including target tracking.
Specialized welding or bonding techniques and apparatuses tailored for joining small-scale electronic components, integrated circuits, or semiconductor wafers, emphasizing precision, miniaturization, and electrical connectivity.
Systems and methods for precisely controlling welding parameters such as power, speed, oscillation, and material feed to optimize weld quality, consistency, and efficiency, often involving automated or semi-automated processes.
Patents
Showing 1-10 of 340