PlainPatent

CPC technology class · A23

A23P - Shaping OR Working OF Foodstuffs

Shaping or working of foodstuffs, not fully covered by a single other subclass. 1,818 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

1,818
US patents granted
A23
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+35%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Shaping OR Working OF Foodstuffs ranks #377 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,818 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 35% over five years.

#377
of 670 CPC technology areas
1,818
US patents granted, 2015–2025
General Mills
leading assignee (49)
+35%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: General Mills, Inc. (49 patents)

CPC subclass A23P - SHAPING OR WORKING OF FOODSTUFFS, NOT FULLY COVERED BY A SINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS - covers 1,818 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 A23P is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. General Mills, Inc. leads with 49 patents, followed by Societe Des Produits Nestle S.a. at 43 grants and GEA FOOD Solutions Bakel B.v. at 25.

Filing activity in A23P is up 35% 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 A23P innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in A23P, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 35% versus 2015–2019.

120140160180200 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 137

Who leads A23P?

The 12 most active assignees in SHAPING OR WORKING OF FOODSTUFFS, NOT FULLY COVERED BY A SINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows General Mills is the most active filer in A23P, holding 49 of the 1,818 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 A23P
Rank Company Patents in A23P
#1 General Mills, Inc. 49
#2 Societe Des Produits Nestle S.a. 43
#3 GEA FOOD Solutions Bakel B.v. 25
#4 Wenger Manufacturing Inc. 25
#5 Frito-lay North America, Inc. 22
#6 MARS, Incorporated 20
#7 Nestec S.a. 19
#8 Jiangnan University 17
#9 Philip Morris USA Inc. 17
#10 Decopac, Inc. 15
#11 Intercontinental Great Brands Llc 14
#12 Kellogg Company 13
#13 The Quaker Oats Company 13
#14 Marel Further Processing B.v. 12
#15 Primera Technology, Inc. 12
#16 Conopco, Inc. 11
#17 N.v. Nutricia 11
#18 Meiji Co., Ltd. 11
#19 Firmenich Sa 10
#20 International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. 10

About This Class

CPC subclass A23P belongs to class A23.

1,818 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 A23P 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 A23P assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A23P. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 A23P assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A23P. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 5101520 102030405060 Patents in A23P Avg claims / patent (company-wide) General MillsSociete des Produits…Gea Food Solutions Ba…Wenger ManufacturingFrito-lay North Ameri…Mars IncorporatedNestecJiangnan UniversityPhilip Morris UsaDecopacIntercontinental Grea…KelloggThe Quaker OatsMarel Further Process…
Top 14 A23P assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A23P. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class A23P?
CPC subclass A23P covers SHAPING OR WORKING OF FOODSTUFFS, NOT FULLY COVERED BY A SINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS. It belongs to CPC class A23 (FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES), with 1,818 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in A23P?
1,818 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass A23P between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in A23P?
General Mills, Inc. leads A23P with 49 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for A23P 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 A23P 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.