PlainPatent

CPC technology class · A23

A23F - Coffee

Coffee; tea; their substitutes; manufacture, preparation, or infusion thereof. 971 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

971
US patents granted
A23
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+57%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Coffee ranks #463 of 670 CPC technology areas - 971 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 57% over five years.

#463
of 670 CPC technology areas
971
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Koninklijke Douwe Egb…
leading assignee (51)
+57%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B.v. (51 patents)

CPC subclass A23F - COFFEE; TEA; THEIR SUBSTITUTES; MANUFACTURE, PREPARATION, OR INFUSION THEREOF - covers 971 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class A23 (FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in A23F is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B.v. leads with 51 patents, followed by Societe Des Produits Nestle S.a. at 44 grants and Starbucks Corporation at 28.

Filing activity in A23F is up 57% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a sharp acceleration suggesting an emerging or fast-moving technology area. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is A23F innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in A23F, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 57% versus 2015–2019.

406080100120140 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 58

Who leads A23F?

The 12 most active assignees in COFFEE; TEA; THEIR SUBSTITUTES; MANUFACTURE, PREPARATION, OR INFUSION THEREOF - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Koninklijke Douwe Egb… is the most active filer in A23F, holding 51 of the 971 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 A23F
Rank Company Patents in A23F
#1 Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B.v. 51
#2 Societe Des Produits Nestle S.a. 44
#3 Starbucks Corporation 28
#4 Nestec S.a. 26
#5 Suntory Holdings Limited 24
#6 Givaudan Sa 17
#7 EPC Natural Products Co., Ltd. 14
#8 Conopco, Inc. 13
#9 THE Folger Coffee Company 12
#10 Bellwether Coffee Co. 11
#11 Sharkninja Operating Llc 10
#12 Kraft Foods R & D, Inc. 9
#13 Amorepacific Corporation 8
#14 Automatic Bar Controls, Inc. 8
#15 Meltz, Llc 8
#16 Touch Coffee & Beverages, Llc 8
#17 Symrise Ag 7
#18 Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. 7
#19 K-FEE System Gmbh 7
#20 Schweitzer Mauduit International, Inc. 7

About This Class

CPC subclass A23F belongs to class A23.

971 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.

20 companies actively patent in this space.

Classification System

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system used by the USPTO and EPO.

← All Technology Classes Technology Rankings →

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A23F 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 A23F assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A23F. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 A23F assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A23F. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 0102030405060 Patents in A23F Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Koninklijke Douwe Egb…Societe des Produits…StarbucksNestecSuntory HoldingsGivaudanEpc Natural ProductsConopcoThe Folger CoffeeBellwether CoffeeSharkninja OperatingKraft Foods R & DAmorepacificAutomatic Bar Controls
Top 14 A23F assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A23F. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class A23F?
CPC subclass A23F covers COFFEE; TEA; THEIR SUBSTITUTES; MANUFACTURE, PREPARATION, OR INFUSION THEREOF. It belongs to CPC class A23 (FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES), with 971 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in A23F?
971 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass A23F between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in A23F?
Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B.v. leads A23F with 51 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for A23F collected?
Patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It covers all US granted utility patents and assigns CPC codes based on the technology described in each patent.
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
A CPC class (e.g., A23) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like A23F provide finer granularity within that category. PlainPatent organizes data at the subclass level (4-character codes) for the most useful view of technology domains.

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

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

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.