Where does 22nd Century Limited, LLC rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), 22nd Century Limited, LLC ranks #6,498 of 49,997 assignees by granted-patent volume, the same sort as the companies listing and top-holders ranking. See /methodology/#corpus-placement.

How many patents does 22nd Century Limited, LLC hold?

22nd Century Limited, LLC holds 51 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2024, spanning 13 technology areas.

What is 22nd Century Limited, LLC's Innovation Score?

22nd Century Limited, LLC has an Innovation Score of 37.9 out of 100 (top 42% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

Is 22nd Century Limited, LLC's patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

22nd Century Limited, LLC's recent grant velocity is -45% compared to the prior five-year period (grant years, not application filing dates). Grant activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for 22nd Century Limited, LLC's patents?

22nd Century Limited, LLC's patents average 11.9 claims each. This is an aggregate descriptive count from the grant record; it does not establish claim scope, legal strength, enforceability, or design-around risk.

How is the 22nd Century Limited, LLC patent data sourced?

All patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering US granted utility patents from 2015 to 2025.

USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

22nd Century Limited, LLC

Q: What technology areas does 22nd Century Limited, LLC focus on?

22nd Century Limited, LLC's top technology area is C12N (Microorganisms OR ENZYMES; Compositions THEREOF; Propagating, Preserving, OR Maintaining MICROORGANISMS; Mutation OR Genetic ENGINEERING; Culture Media) with 50 patents. Grants appear in 13 CPC subclasses total.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 51 granted patents across 13 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2015–2024. Grant-trend analysis is cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search; it does not measure application filings, current R&D, or legal strength. Primary class: C12N (Microorganisms OR ENZYMES; Compositions THEREOF; Propagating, Preserving, OR Maintaining MICROORGANISMS; Mutation OR Genetic ENGINEERING; Culture Media).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

RSS updates for this company

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, 22nd ranks #6,498 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 51 patents across 13 technology areas.

#6,498
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 42%
by Innovation Score (37.9/100): 11.9
avg claims per patent: -45%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R6498 · US Corporation #6,498 · 51 grants

GRANTS-SMALL · UPPER-Q · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-FOCUS · INNOV-THIN · CLAIMS-PAR · TYPE-USCORP · VEL-DROP · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-SMALL 51 grants
UPPER-Q #6,498/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Adama Makhteshim
CPC-FOCUS C12N · 13 areas
INNOV-THIN 37.9/100
CLAIMS-PAR 11.9 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-DROP -45% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Adama Makhteshim Ltd. (±0 grants)

Instrument codes from this assignee’s USPTO PatentsView grant sheet: volume band, corpus rank, photo-finish peer, lead CPC, Innovation Score, claim depth, assignee type, velocity, and book completeness. Not a USPTO rating of patent strength.

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
22nd Century · this assignee

38
ETS Lindgren · near

38
Fuze · near

38
Ruag Ammotec · near

38
Tyfone · near

38
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows 22nd's Innovation Score is 37.9/100 (top 42% of the PatentsView-derived corpus). The chart places that score against the nearest Innovation Score peers plus corpus poles, not a reprint of the volume ranking.

Where 22nd's grants concentrate

22nd Century Limited, LLC is a focused PatentsView assignee: 13 CPC subclasses with 98% of grants classified under C12N (Microorganisms OR ENZYMES; Compositions THEREOF; Propagating, Preserving, OR Maintaining MICROORGANISMS; Mutation OR Genetic ENGINEERING; Culture Media). Peak complete grant year is 2018 (11 grants) versus a trough of 1 in 2022. By volume, 22nd sits between The University Court of the University of Glasgow and AST & Science, LLC.

22nd's three-year grant acceleration

22nd Century Limited, LLC shows 9 grants in 2022–2024 against only 14 in 2019–2021. That prior window is too thin for a growth multiple (rename and spin-out assignees look artificially high when the baseline is near zero), so PlainPatent withholds a ranked acceleration claim here.

The University Co…

52
The University of…

52
Trax Technology S…

52
Uniwersytet Jagie…

52
Adama Makhteshim

51
Alphatheta

51
Amvac Chemical

51
AST & Science

51
22nd Century ◀

51

What this shows 22nd holds 51 patents at rank #6,498, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near 22nd

By rank, the assignees closest to #6,498 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in C12N (Microorganisms OR Enzymes)

Other assignees with the most granted patents in 22nd's primary technology class.

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for 22nd, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above).

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (38 here).

Tyfone, Inc. 38 Fuze, Inc. 38 Ruag Ammotec GmbH 38 ETS Lindgren Inc. 38

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (11.9 here).

Safran Nacelles 11.9 avg Crocus Technology SA 11.9 avg Automotive Research & Testing Center 11.9 avg LS Electric Co., Ltd. 11.9 avg

22nd's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

Composite of portfolio volume, grant velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth (0–100)

38 Top 42% higher than 58% of 49,997 US assignees

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US assignees. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source USPTO PatentsView, PlainPatent Innovation Score · 2015–2025

USPTO utility patent grants by year · 2015–2024

Grants by year

Teal-shaded recent years (2020–present) versus the 2015–2019 baseline. Full figures in the table below.

View data table

22nd Century Limited, LLC patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	9	17.6%
2016	2	3.9%
2017	6	11.8%
2018	11	21.6%
2019	5	9.8%
2020	5	9.8%
2021	4	7.8%
2022	1	2.0%
2023	5	9.8%
2024	3	5.9%

Which technologies does 22nd Century Limited, LLC patent most?

C12N - Microorganisms OR ENZYMES; Compositions THEREOF; Propagating, Preserving, OR Maintaining MICROORGANISMS; Mutation OR Genetic ENGINEERING; Culture Media 50

A24B - Manufacture OR Preparation OF Tobacco FOR Smoking OR CHEWING; TOBACCO; Snuff 49

A24D - CIGARS; CIGARETTES; Tobacco Smoke FILTERS; Mouthpieces FOR Cigars OR CIGARETTES; Manufacture OF Tobacco Smoke Filters OR Mouthpieces 35

C07K - Peptides 31

C12Y - Enzymes 14

Y02A - Technologies FOR Adaptation TO Climate Change 14

A61K - Preparations FOR Medical, Dental OR Toiletry Purposes 12

Y02E - Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions, Related TO Energy Generation, Transmission OR Distribution 11

A24F - Smokers' REQUISITES; Match BOXES; Simulated Smoking Devices 11

A61P - Specific Therapeutic Activity OF Chemical Compounds OR Medicinal Preparations 6

A01C - PLANTING; SOWING; Fertilising 1

A01H - NEW Plants OR ; NON-TRANSGENIC; Processes FOR Obtaining THEM; Plant Reproduction BY Tissue Culture Techniques 1

A01G - HORTICULTURE; Cultivation OF Vegetables, Flowers, Rice, Fruit, Vines, Hops OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; Watering 1

Top 13 of 13 technology areas

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#6,498

of 49,997 tracked assignees

Innovation Score

37.9 out of 100

View all rankings →

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

How is Innovation Score calculated?

What to do with this data

22nd Century Limited, LLC's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

22nd Century Limited, LLC's lead technology class is C12N (Microorganisms OR ENZYMES; Compositions THEREOF; Propagating, Preserving, OR Maintaining MICROORGANISMS; Mutation OR Genetic ENGINEERING; Culture Media), 98% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore C12N
Ranked #6,498 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare 22nd Century Limited, LLC against The University Court of the University of Glasgow, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 37.9/100 blends volume, velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth. How it's calculated

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through May 2026; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the USPTO PatentsView database. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sources used on this page

USPTO PatentsView - the disambiguated bulk patent-grant, assignee, and CPC data this page's figures are derived from. patentsview.org
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) - the joint USPTO/EPO classification scheme used to group patents by technology area. cooperativepatentclassification.org
USPTO Patent Public Search - the official interface to verify the status of any individual patent. ppubs.uspto.gov

Compiled by PlainPatent, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Process · May 15, 2026

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. Data current as of May 2026.