PlainPatent

CPC technology class · A24

A24D - Cigars

Cigars; cigarettes; tobacco smoke filters; mouthpieces for cigars or cigarettes; manufacture of tobacco smoke filters or mouthpieces. 1,661 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

1,661
US patents granted
#3/4
in A24
16.4%
A24 class share
+74%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Cigars ranks #391 of 670 CPC technology areas - 1,661 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 74% over five years.

#391
of 670 CPC technology areas
1,661
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Philip Morris Products
leading assignee (373)
+74%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How tightly A24D concentrates

Philip Morris Products S.A. holds 22.5% of A24D's recorded grants (373 of 1,661) - 264 more than KT&G Corporation. Across complete PatentsView years, the class peaked in 2024 at 281 grants and bottomed in 2016 at 84 (+235% peak-over-trough). Equal-window velocity 2020–2024 vs 2015–2019: +74% (920 vs 530 grants).

Leaderboard read

A24D concentration, lead at 22.5%

Philip Morris Products S.A. leads this historical grant record at 22.5% of A24D - foreign corporation assignees hold 63% of class grants (914 of 1,448). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
22.5%

373 of 1,661 grants

Top three share
35.5%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
264

more grants than KT&G Corporation

Where A24D sits inside A24

Among 4 subclasses in A24 (TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; Simulated Smoking DEVICES; Smokers' Requisites), A24D ranks #3 and holds 16.4% of the parent class's 10,133 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

A24F 5,971 A24B 1,799 A24C 702

Rising assignees active in A24D

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 Imperial Tobacco Limited 24x 1 → 24 company-wide · 7 in A24D
  2. #2 Good Tree International, Inc. 12x 0 → 12 company-wide · 12 in A24D
  3. #3 Nicoventures Trading Limited 9.67x 33 → 319 company-wide · 74 in A24D
  4. #4 KT&G Corporation 8.79x 29 → 255 company-wide · 109 in A24D
  5. #5 Acetate International LLC 5.00x 1 → 5 company-wide · 8 in A24D

A24D grants by year, peak 2024 (281)

US utility-patent grants per year in A24D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 74% versus 2015–2019.

50100150200250300 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 191

Who leads A24D?

The 12 most active assignees in CIGARS; CIGARETTES; Tobacco Smoke FILTERS; Mouthpieces FOR Cigars OR CIGARETTES; Manufacture OF Tobacco Smoke Filters OR Mouthpieces - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Philip Morris Products is the most active filer in A24D, holding 373 of the 1,661 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 A24D
Rank Company Patents in A24D
#1 Philip Morris Products S.A. 373
#2 KT&G Corporation 109
#3 Altria Client Services LLC 107
#4 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company 99
#5 Philip Morris USA Inc. 96
#6 British American Tobacco (Investments) Limited 92
#7 Nicoventures Trading Limited 74
#8 Japan Tobacco Inc. 64
#9 RAI Strategic Holdings, Inc. 58
#10 22nd Century Limited, LLC 35
#11 JT International SA 32
#12 Blunt Wrap U.S.A., Inc. 30
#13 International Tobacco Machinery Poland Sp. z o.o. 25
#14 Delfortgroup AG 18
#15 Good Tree International, Inc. 12
#16 G.D S.P.A. 11
#17 Celanese Acetate LLC 11
#18 Juul Labs, Inc. 10
#19 G.D Societa' PER Azioni 10
#20 Essentra Filter Products Development Co. Pte. Ltd. 10

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading A24D 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 A24D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A24D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 1015202530 0100200300400 Patents in A24D Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Philip Morris ProductsKt&GAltria Client ServicesR J Reynolds TobaccoPhilip Morris UsaBritish American…Nicoventures TradingJapan TobaccoRai Strategic Holdings22nd CenturyJt InternationalBlunt Wrap UInternational Tobacco…Delfortgroup
Top 14 A24D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in A24D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near A24D's 1,661-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for A24D (#391 of 670 by volume ; lead share 22.5%) - not the A24 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

F01C 1,662 F25C 1,654 G16Y 1,652 B22C 1,672

Nearest by lead-assignee share

C03B 22.4% B64F 22.7% D04B 23.0% B62M 23.7%

Questions about A24D

Which company holds the most patents in A24D?
Philip Morris Products S.A. leads A24D with 373 patents (22.5% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 63% of class grants.
Which A24D assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in A24D, Imperial Tobacco Limited shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (24x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 24 in 2022–2024) while holding 7 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does A24D compare inside parent class A24?
Inside A24 (TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; Simulated Smoking DEVICES; Smokers' Requisites), A24D ranks #3 of 4 subclasses by grant volume and holds 16.4% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is A24F (5,971 grants).

What to do with this data

A24D in context - here's where to go next.

  • Philip Morris Products S.A. leads A24D with 373 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • A24D ranks #391 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class A24, the largest sibling subclass is A24F with 5,971 grants. Explore A24F

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through 2026-05-15; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Methodology - A24D figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (1,661 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.