CPC technology class · A23

A23C - Dairy Products

Dairy products, e.g. milk, butter or cheese; milk or cheese substitutes; making or treatment thereof. 1,603 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

1,603
US patents granted: #7/11
in A23: 4.3%
A23 class share: +40%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Dairy Products ranks #398 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,603 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 40% over five years.

#398
of 670 CPC technology areas: 1,603
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Chr Hansen A/S
leading assignee (70): +40%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How A23C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, A23C recorded 837 grants versus 597 in 2015–2019 (+40% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2022 at 190 grants and bottomed in 2016 at 111 (+71% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Chr. Hansen A/S holds 4.4% of the class ; the top three share 9.5%.

Leaderboard read

A23C concentration, lead at 4.4%

Chr. Hansen A/S leads this historical grant record at 4.4% of A23C - foreign corporation assignees hold 69% of class grants (729 of 1,060). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 4.4%
Top three share: 9.5%
Lead over #2: 20

Where A23C sits inside A23

Among 11 subclasses in A23 (Foods OR FOODSTUFFS; Treatment Thereof, NOT Covered BY Other Classes), A23C ranks #7 and holds 4.3% of the parent class's 36,876 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

A23L 12,738 A23V 9,116 A23K 3,247 A23B 2,807 A23G 1,990 A23P 1,818 A23D 1,053 A23F 971

Rising assignees active in A23C

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 Nobell Foods, Inc. 7.00x 1 → 7 company-wide · 5 in A23C
#2 Biomilk Ltd. 6.00x 0 → 6 company-wide · 6 in A23C
#3 International N&hdenmark APS 6.00x 0 → 6 company-wide · 5 in A23C
#4 The Fynder Group, Inc. 4.71x 7 → 33 company-wide · 18 in A23C
#5 Purecircle USA Inc. 2.63x 8 → 21 company-wide · 12 in A23C

A23C grants by year, peak 2022 (190)

US utility-patent grants per year in A23C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 40% versus 2015–2019.

Chr Hansen A/S

70
Societe des Produits…

50
Nestec

32
Meiji

30
Land O'lakes

28
Compagnie Gervais…

27
Tetra Laval Holdings…

24
Kraft Foods Group…

24
Valio

23
fairlife

22
Givaudan

21
Dmk Deutsches…

21

What this shows Chr Hansen A/S is the most active filer in A23C, holding 70 of the 1,603 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 A23C
Rank	Company	Patents in A23C
#1	Chr. Hansen A/S	70
#2	Societe des Produits Nestle S.A.	50
#3	Nestec S.A.	32
#4	Meiji Co., Ltd.	30
#5	Land O'Lakes, Inc.	28
#6	Compagnie Gervais Danone	27
#7	Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A.	24
#8	Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC	24
#9	Valio Ltd	23
#10	fairlife, LLC	22
#11	Givaudan SA	21
#12	DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH	21
#13	PureCircle Sdn Bhd	20
#14	Dupont Nutrition Biosciences APS	19
#15	N.V. Nutricia	18
#16	The Fynder Group, Inc.	18
#17	Arla Foods Amba	17
#18	Jiangnan University	16
#19	General Mills, Inc.	14
#20	Crestovo Holdings LLC	14

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A23C 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 A23C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A23C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near A23C's 1,603-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A23C (#398 of 670 by volume ; lead share 4.4%) - not the A23 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

G21F 1,599 F41B 1,581 B26F 1,627 A44C 1,629

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B23B 4.4% C01G 4.4% C10K 4.4% H01R 4.3%

Questions about A23C

Which company holds the most patents in A23C?

Chr. Hansen A/S leads A23C with 70 patents (4.4% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 69% of class grants.

Which A23C assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A23C, Nobell Foods, Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (7.00x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 7 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does A23C compare inside parent class A23?

Inside A23 (Foods OR FOODSTUFFS; Treatment Thereof, NOT Covered BY Other Classes), A23C ranks #7 of 11 subclasses by grant volume and holds 4.3% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A23L (12,738 grants).

What to do with this data

A23C in context - here's where to go next.

Chr. Hansen A/S leads A23C with 70 grants in this class. See full portfolio
A23C ranks #398 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class A23, the largest sibling subclass is A23L with 12,738 grants. Explore A23L

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through 2026-05-15; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Methodology - A23C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,603 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.