Where does The Hershey Company rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), The Hershey Company ranks #5,410 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 The Hershey Company hold?

The Hershey Company holds 64 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 28 technology areas.

What is The Hershey Company's Innovation Score?

The Hershey Company has an Innovation Score of 47.1 out of 100 (top 19% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

Is The Hershey Company's patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

The Hershey Company's recent grant velocity is +44% compared to the prior five-year period (grant years, not application filing dates). The company is maintaining or growing its granted-patent output.

What does claim depth mean for The Hershey Company's patents?

The Hershey Company's patents average 9.3 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 The Hershey Company 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

The Hershey Company

Q: What technology areas does The Hershey Company focus on?

The Hershey Company's top technology area is A23G (COCOA; Cocoa Products, e.g. CHOCOLATE; Substitutes FOR Cocoa OR Cocoa PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; Chewing GUM; ICE-CREAM; Preparation Thereof) with 15 patents, ranking #20 of 237 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 28 CPC subclasses total.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 64 granted patents across 28 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2015–2025. 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: A23G (COCOA; Cocoa Products, e.g. CHOCOLATE; Substitutes FOR Cocoa OR Cocoa PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; Chewing GUM; ICE-CREAM; Preparation Thereof).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

RSS updates for this company

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, The ranks #5,410 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 64 patents across 28 technology areas.

#5,410
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 19%
by Innovation Score (47.1/100): 9.3
avg claims per patent: +44%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R5410 · US Corporation #5,410 · 64 grants

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

GRANTS-SMALL 64 grants
UPPER-Q #5,410/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Supercell Oy
CPC-FOCUS A23G · 28 areas
INNOV-PAR 47.1/100
CLAIMS-PAR 9.3 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-UP +44% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Supercell Oy (±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.

How The’s 47.1 Innovation Score adds up

The same four weighted components behind every Innovation Score on PlainPatent: portfolio volume, grant velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth.

Volume 14.4 pts (31%) Velocity 8.4 pts (18%) Breadth 18.7 pts (40%) Claim depth 5.6 pts (12%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Areva NP · near

47
GC · near

47
The Hershey · this assignee

47
Université Paris—Est… · near

47
Videojet · near

47
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows The's Innovation Score is 47.1/100 (top 19% 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.

Does more volume mean deeper claims for The?

Each dot is one of The’s 8 nearest volume peers (same corpus rank neighbourhood as the chart above), placed by total granted patents (horizontal) against average claims per patent (vertical). The’s own 9.3 claims/patent is at or below the 15.3 median for these volume peers. Volume here does not track with deeper claims; several lower-volume peers claim more thoroughly per patent.

The vs its 8 nearest volume peers: granted patents vs average claims per patent. Source: USPTO PatentsView.

Where The's grants concentrate

The Hershey Company is a focused PatentsView assignee: 28 CPC subclasses with 23.4% of grants classified under A23G (COCOA; Cocoa Products, e.g. CHOCOLATE; Substitutes FOR Cocoa OR Cocoa PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; Chewing GUM; ICE-CREAM; Preparation Thereof). Peak complete grant year is 2023 (11 grants) versus a trough of 2 in 2018. By volume, The sits between Supercell Oy and Vatech Co., Ltd..

The's three-year grant acceleration

The Hershey Company shows 24 grants in 2022–2024 against only 19 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.

Supercell Oy

64
Switchlab

64
Taylor Made Group

64
Taegutec

64
The United States…

64
University of Mai…

64
Varta Microbattery

64
Vatech

64
The Hershey ◀

64

What this shows The holds 64 patents at rank #5,409, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near The

By rank, the assignees closest to #5,409 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in A23G (Cocoa)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for The, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In A23G (Cocoa), The ranks #20 of 237 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (47 here).

Areva NP 47 Videojet Technologies Inc. 47 GC Corporation 47 Université Paris—Est Créteil Val de Marne 47

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (9.3 here).

Institute For Basic Science 9.3 avg Sinfonia Technology Co., Ltd. 9.3 avg Mitsui High-tec, Inc. 9.3 avg Avision Inc. 9.3 avg

The's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

47 Top 19% higher than 81% 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 · 2015–2025

Grants by year

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

View data table

The Hershey Company patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	5	7.8%
2016	5	7.8%
2017	6	9.4%
2018	2	3.1%
2019	7	10.9%
2020	2	3.1%
2021	10	15.6%
2022	8	12.5%
2023	11	17.2%
2024	5	7.8%
2025partial year	3	4.7%

Which technologies does The Hershey Company patent most?

A23G - COCOA; Cocoa Products, e.g. CHOCOLATE; Substitutes FOR Cocoa OR Cocoa PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; Chewing GUM; ICE-CREAM; Preparation Thereof 15

A23V - Indexing Scheme Relating TO Foods, Foodstuffs OR Non-alcoholic Beverages AND Lactic OR Propionic Acid Bacteria Used IN Foodstuffs OR Food Preparation 10

B65D - Containers FOR Storage OR Transport OF Articles OR Materials, e.g. Bags, Barrels, Bottles, Boxes, Cans, Cartons, Crates, Drums, Jars, Tanks, Hoppers, Forwarding CONTAINERS; Accessories, Closures, OR Fittings THEREFOR; Packaging ELEMENTS; Packages 9

A23L - Foods, Foodstuffs OR Non-alcoholic Beverages, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Preparation OR Treatment Thereof 9

A23P - Shaping OR Working OF Foodstuffs, NOT Fully Covered BY A Single Other Subclass 4

A61K - Preparations FOR Medical, Dental OR Toiletry Purposes 4

A23J - Protein Compositions FOR FOODSTUFFS; Working-up Proteins FOR FOODSTUFFS; Phosphatide Compositions FOR Foodstuffs 2

B31B - Making Containers OF Paper, Cardboard OR Material Worked IN A Manner Analogous TO Paper 2

A61P - Specific Therapeutic Activity OF Chemical Compounds OR Medicinal Preparations 2

G06F - Electric Digital Data Processing 2

A47F - Special Furniture, Fittings, OR Accessories FOR Shops, Storehouses, Bars, Restaurants OR THE LIKE; Paying Counters 2

A61Q - Specific USE OF Cosmetics OR Similar Toiletry Preparations 2

A21D - Treatment OF Flour OR Dough FOR Baking, e.g. BY Addition OF MATERIALS; BAKING; Bakery Products 1

B29C - Shaping OR Joining OF PLASTICS; Shaping OF Material IN A Plastic State, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; After-treatment OF THE Shaped Products, e.g. Repairing 1

B42D - BOOKS; Book COVERS; Loose LEAVES; Printed Matter Characterised BY Identification OR Security FEATURES; Printed Matter OF Special Format OR Style NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Devices FOR USE Therewith AND NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Movable-strip Writing OR Reading Apparatus 1

Top 15 of 28 technology areas

More on this record

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

View all rankings → How is Innovation Score calculated?

What to do with this data

The Hershey Company's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

The Hershey Company's lead technology class is A23G (COCOA; Cocoa Products, e.g. CHOCOLATE; Substitutes FOR Cocoa OR Cocoa PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; Chewing GUM; ICE-CREAM; Preparation Thereof), 23.4% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore A23G
Ranked #5,410 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare The Hershey Company against Supercell Oy, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 47.1/100 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.