CPC technology class · A23

A23V - Indexing Scheme Relating To Foods

Indexing scheme relating to foods, foodstuffs or non-alcoholic beverages and lactic or propionic acid bacteria used in foodstuffs or food preparation. 9,116 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

9,116
US patents granted: #2/11
in A23: 24.7%
A23 class share: +13%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Indexing Scheme Relating To Foods ranks #178 of 670 CPC technology areas - 9,116 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 13% over five years.

#178
of 670 CPC technology areas: 9,116
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Societe des Produits Nestle
leading assignee (208): +13%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How A23V's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, A23V recorded 4,295 grants versus 3,801 in 2015–2019 (+13% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 981 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 566 (+73% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. holds 2.3% of the class ; the top three share 5.3%.

Leaderboard read

A23V concentration, lead at 2.3%

Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. leads this historical grant record at 2.3% of A23V - foreign corporation assignees hold 57% of class grants (3,249 of 5,687). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 2.3%
Top three share: 5.3%
Lead over #2: 50

Where A23V sits inside A23

Among 11 subclasses in A23 (Foods OR FOODSTUFFS; Treatment Thereof, NOT Covered BY Other Classes), A23V ranks #2 and holds 24.7% 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 A23K 3,247 A23B 2,807 A23G 1,990 A23P 1,818 A23C 1,603 A23D 1,053 A23F 971

Rising assignees active in A23V

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 Upside Foods, Inc. 23x 1 → 23 company-wide · 12 in A23V
#2 Glac Biotech Co., Ltd. 21x 1 → 21 company-wide · 11 in A23V
#3 Chr. Hansen HMO GmbH 17x 0 → 17 company-wide · 6 in A23V
#4 Tate & Lyle Solutions USA LLC 13x 0 → 13 company-wide · 7 in A23V
#5 Kerry Group Services International Ltd 10x 0 → 10 company-wide · 6 in A23V

A23V grants by year, peak 2020 (981)

US utility-patent grants per year in A23V, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 13% versus 2015–2019.

Societe des Produits…

208
Nestec

158
Nutricia

121
Dsm Ip Assets B V

117
Abbott Laboratories

73
Purecircle Sdn Bhd

62
Cargill Incorporated

61
Givaudan

61
Cj Cheiljedang

56
General Mills

55
Jiangnan University

52
Mars Incorporated

52

What this shows Societe des Produits… is the most active filer in A23V, holding 208 of the 9,116 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 A23V
Rank	Company	Patents in A23V
#1	Societe des Produits Nestle S.A.	208
#2	Nestec S.A.	158
#3	N.V. Nutricia	121
#4	DSM IP Assets B.V.	117
#5	Abbott Laboratories	73
#6	PureCircle Sdn Bhd	62
#7	Cargill, Incorporated	61
#8	Givaudan SA	61
#9	CJ Cheiljedang Corporation	56
#10	General Mills, Inc.	55
#11	Jiangnan University	52
#12	Mars, Incorporated	52
#13	Conopco, Inc.	50
#14	Chr. Hansen A/S	50
#15	Symrise AG	49
#16	Suntory Holdings Limited	46
#17	Amorepacific Corporation	44
#18	THE Coca-cola Company	38
#19	Mead Johnson Nutrition Company	32
#20	Firmenich SA	31

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A23V 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 A23V assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A23V. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near A23V's 9,116-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A23V (#178 of 670 by volume ; lead share 2.3%) - not the A23 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

E05B 9,176 B08B 9,052 C03C 8,986 B60C 9,320

Nearest by lead-assignee share

G16B 2.3% B22D 2.3% H01S 2.3% C08G 2.3%

Questions about A23V

Which company holds the most patents in A23V?

Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. leads A23V with 208 patents (2.3% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 57% of class grants.

Which A23V assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A23V, Upside Foods, Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (23x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 23 in 2022–2024) while holding 12 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does A23V compare inside parent class A23?

Inside A23 (Foods OR FOODSTUFFS; Treatment Thereof, NOT Covered BY Other Classes), A23V ranks #2 of 11 subclasses by grant volume and holds 24.7% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A23L (12,738 grants).

What to do with this data

A23V in context - here's where to go next.

Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. leads A23V with 208 grants in this class. See full portfolio
A23V ranks #178 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 - A23V figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (9,116 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.