CPC technology class · C12

C12C - Beer

Beer; preparation of beer by fermentation ; preparation of malt for making beer; preparation of hops for making beer. 506 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

506
US patents granted: #7/12
in C12: 0.3%
C12 class share: +74%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Beer ranks #542 of 670 CPC technology areas - 506 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 74% over five years.

#542
of 670 CPC technology areas: 506
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Lg
leading assignee (55): +74%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C12C's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C12C recorded 282 grants versus 162 in 2015–2019 (+74% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2021 at 72 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 25 (+188% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Novozymes A/S holds 3.6% of the class ; the top three share 8.5%.

Leaderboard read

C12C concentration, lead at 3.6%

Novozymes A/S leads this historical grant record at 3.6% of C12C - foreign corporation assignees hold 67% of class grants (157 of 234). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 3.6%
Top three share: 8.5%
Lead over #2: 5

Where C12C sits inside C12

Among 12 subclasses in C12 (BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; Mutation OR Genetic Engineering), C12C ranks #7 and holds 0.3% of the parent class's 144,620 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

C12N 68,530 C12Q 32,189 C12Y 17,214 C12P 13,948 C12M 8,154 C12R 3,107 C12G 389 C12H 386

Rising assignees active in C12C

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 GEA Brewery Systems GmbH 2.00x 1 → 2 company-wide · 6 in C12C
#2 PB Funding Group, LLC 1.50x 4 → 6 company-wide · 6 in C12C
#3 Anheuser-busch Inbev S.A. 1.13x 24 → 27 company-wide · 6 in C12C
#4 Impossible Foods Inc. 1.00x 14 → 14 company-wide · 7 in C12C
#5 Heineken Supply Chain B.V. 0.95x 22 → 21 company-wide · 13 in C12C

C12C grants by year, peak 2021 (72)

US utility-patent grants per year in C12C, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 74% versus 2015–2019.

Novozymes A/S

18
Heineken Supply Chain…

13
Suntory Holdings

12
Carlsberg Breweries…

11
Givaudan

10
Picobrew

10
Dupont Nutrition…

9
Danisco Us

7
Impossible Foods

7
Sapporo Breweries

7
Anheuser-busch Inbev

6
Pb Funding Group

6

What this shows Lg is the most active filer in C12C, holding 55 of the 506 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 C12C
Rank	Company	Patents in C12C
#1	Novozymes A/S	18
#2	Heineken Supply Chain B.V.	13
#3	Suntory Holdings Limited	12
#4	Carlsberg Breweries A/S	11
#5	Givaudan SA	10
#6	PicoBrew, LLC	10
#7	Dupont Nutrition Biosciences APS	9
#8	Danisco US Inc.	7
#9	Impossible Foods Inc.	7
#10	Sapporo Breweries Limited	7
#11	Anheuser-busch Inbev S.A.	6
#12	PB Funding Group, LLC	6
#13	Deuteria Beverages, LLC	6
#14	GEA Brewery Systems GmbH	6
#15	Chr. Hansen A/S	5
#16	Grains Research AND Development Corporation	4
#17	Basf Enzymes LLC	4
#18	Porifera, Inc.	4
#19	Anheuser-Busch, LLC	4
#20	Clearmind Medicine Inc.	4

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C12C 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 C12C assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C12C. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near C12C's 506-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for C12C (#542 of 670 by volume ; lead share 10.9%) - not the C12 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B61K 506 B27G 503 B61H 502 B28C 511

Nearest by lead-assignee share

G21C 10.9% E21F 10.9% B26B 10.8% E01C 10.9%

Questions about C12C

Which company holds the most patents in C12C?

LG Electronics Inc. leads C12C with 55 patents (3.6% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 67% of class grants.

Which C12C assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C12C, GEA Brewery Systems GmbH shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (2.00x: 1 grants in 2019–2021 → 2 in 2022–2024) while holding 6 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does C12C compare inside parent class C12?

Inside C12 (BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; Mutation OR Genetic Engineering), C12C ranks #7 of 12 subclasses by grant volume and holds 0.3% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C12N (68,530 grants).

What to do with this data

C12C in context - here's where to go next.

Novozymes A/S leads C12C with 18 grants in this class. See full portfolio
C12C ranks #542 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class C12, the largest sibling subclass is C12N with 68,530 grants. Explore C12N

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

Methodology - C12C figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (506 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.