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 grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

971
US patents granted: #9/11
in A23: 2.6%
A23 class share: +42%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Coffee ranks #463 of 670 CPC technology areas - 971 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 42% over five years.

#463
of 670 CPC technology areas: 971
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B…
leading assignee (51): +42%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How A23F's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, A23F recorded 523 grants versus 369 in 2015–2019 (+42% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 120 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 57 (+111% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B.V. holds 5.3% of the class ; the top three share 12.7%.

Leaderboard read

A23F concentration, lead at 5.3%

Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B.V. leads this historical grant record at 5.3% of A23F - foreign corporation assignees hold 59% of class grants (332 of 566). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 5.3%
Top three share: 12.7%
Lead over #2: 7

Where A23F sits inside A23

Among 11 subclasses in A23 (Foods OR FOODSTUFFS; Treatment Thereof, NOT Covered BY Other Classes), A23F ranks #9 and holds 2.6% 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 A23D 1,053

Rising assignees active in A23F

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 Havana Savannah, LLC 5.00x 0 → 5 company-wide · 5 in A23F
#2 EPC Natural Products Co., Ltd. 2.60x 5 → 13 company-wide · 14 in A23F
#3 Starbucks Corporation 2.00x 35 → 70 company-wide · 28 in A23F
#4 K-fee System GMBH 1.92x 12 → 23 company-wide · 7 in A23F
#5 Bellwether Coffee Co. 1.75x 4 → 7 company-wide · 11 in A23F

A23F grants by year, peak 2020 (120)

US utility-patent grants per year in A23F, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 42% versus 2015–2019.

Koninklijke Douwe…

51
Societe des Produits…

44
Starbucks

28
Nestec

26
Suntory Holdings

24
Givaudan

17
Epc Natural Products

14
Conopco

13
The Folger Coffee

12
Bellwether Coffee

11
Sharkninja Operating

10
Kraft Foods R & D

9

What this shows Koninklijke Douwe… 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.

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

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).

Classes near A23F's 971-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A23F (#463 of 670 by volume ; lead share 5.3%) - not the A23 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

E01H 971 C01D 976 A41B 979 E21D 962

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B29D 5.2% B24C 5.2% C01C 5.3% B65C 5.3%

Questions about A23F

Which company holds the most patents in A23F?

Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B.V. leads A23F with 51 patents (5.3% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 59% of class grants.

Which A23F assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A23F, Havana Savannah, LLC shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (5.00x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 5 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does A23F compare inside parent class A23?

Inside A23 (Foods OR FOODSTUFFS; Treatment Thereof, NOT Covered BY Other Classes), A23F ranks #9 of 11 subclasses by grant volume and holds 2.6% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A23L (12,738 grants).

What to do with this data

A23F in context - here's where to go next.

Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B.V. leads A23F with 51 grants in this class. See full portfolio
A23F ranks #463 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 - A23F figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (971 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.