PlainPatent

CPC technology class · A23

A23D - Edible Oils Or Fats

Edible oils or fats, e.g. margarines, shortenings or cooking oils. 1,053 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

1,053
US patents granted
#8/11
in A23
2.9%
A23 class share
-12%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Edible Oils Or Fats ranks #452 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,053 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 12% over five years.

#452
of 670 CPC technology areas
1,053
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Monsanto Technology
leading assignee (71)
-12%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How A23D's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, A23D recorded 436 grants versus 493 in 2015–2019 (-12% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2015 at 160 grants and bottomed in 2018 at 70 (+129% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Monsanto Technology LLC holds 6.7% of the class ; the top three share 12.5%.

Leaderboard read

A23D concentration, lead at 6.7%

Monsanto Technology LLC leads this historical grant record at 6.7% of A23D - us corporation assignees hold 55% of class grants (342 of 619). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
6.7%

71 of 1,053 grants

Top three share
12.5%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
35

more grants than Cargill, Incorporated

Where A23D sits inside A23

Among 11 subclasses in A23 (Foods OR FOODSTUFFS; Treatment Thereof, NOT Covered BY Other Classes), A23D ranks #8 and holds 2.9% 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 A23C 1,603 A23F 971

Rising assignees active in A23D

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. #1 Bunge Loders Croklaan B.V. 6.00x 1 → 6 company-wide · 8 in A23D
  2. #2 Nissui Corporation 5.00x 0 → 5 company-wide · 5 in A23D
  3. #3 Ganeden Biotech, Inc. 3.50x 2 → 7 company-wide · 6 in A23D
  4. #4 The Nisshin OilliO Group, Ltd. 2.20x 5 → 11 company-wide · 13 in A23D
  5. #5 Upfield Europe B.V. 2.17x 6 → 13 company-wide · 18 in A23D

A23D grants by year, peak 2015 (160)

US utility-patent grants per year in A23D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 12% versus 2015–2019.

50100150200 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 66

Who leads A23D?

The 12 most active assignees in Edible Oils OR Fats, e.g. Margarines, Shortenings OR Cooking Oils - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Monsanto Technology is the most active filer in A23D, holding 71 of the 1,053 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

Source USPTO PatentsView, granted utility patents As of 2015–2025 grant years
View data table
Top patent holders in CPC subclass A23D
Rank Company Patents in A23D
#1 Monsanto Technology LLC 71
#2 Cargill, Incorporated 36
#3 Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. 25
#4 Conopco, Inc. 22
#5 Fuji OIL Holdings Inc. 18
#6 Upfield Europe B.V. 18
#7 Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd 17
#8 General Mills, Inc. 15
#9 MS Technologies 14
#10 Basf Plant Science Company GmbH 13
#11 The Nisshin OilliO Group, Ltd. 13
#12 Alcresta Therapeutics, Inc. 12
#13 Enzymotec Ltd. 12
#14 N.V. Nutricia 11
#15 Poet Research, Inc. 10
#16 Solazyme, Inc. 10
#17 Suntory Holdings Limited 9
#18 Grains Research AND Development Corporation 9
#19 Impossible Foods Inc. 8
#20 Corbion Biotech, Inc. 8

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A23D 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 A23D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A23D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 020406080 Patents in A23D Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Monsanto TechnologyCargill IncorporatedSociete des Produits…ConopcoFuji Oil HoldingsUpfield Europe B VNippon Suisan KaishaGeneral MillsMsBasf Plant ScienceThe Nisshin Oillio…Alcresta TherapeuticsEnzymotecNutricia
Top 14 A23D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A23D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near A23D's 1,053-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A23D (#452 of 670 by volume ; lead share 6.7%) - not the A23 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B65C 1,055 A43D 1,044 B31F 1,044 B25G 1,041

Nearest by lead-assignee share

G01Q 6.7% Y02T 6.7% B24B 6.8% B61H 6.8%

Questions about A23D

Which company holds the most patents in A23D?
Monsanto Technology LLC leads A23D with 71 patents (6.7% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 55% of class grants.
Which A23D assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A23D, Bunge Loders Croklaan B.V. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (6.00x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 6 in 2022–2024) while holding 8 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does A23D compare inside parent class A23?
Inside A23 (Foods OR FOODSTUFFS; Treatment Thereof, NOT Covered BY Other Classes), A23D ranks #8 of 11 subclasses by grant volume and holds 2.9% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A23L (12,738 grants).

What to do with this data

A23D in context - here's where to go next.

  • Monsanto Technology LLC leads A23D with 71 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • A23D ranks #452 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 - A23D figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,053 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.