CPC technology class · C12

C12H - Pasteurisation

Pasteurisation, sterilisation, preservation, purification, clarification or ageing of alcoholic beverages; methods for altering the alcohol content of fermented solutions or alcoholic beverages. 386 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

386
US patents granted: #9/12
in C12: 0.3%
C12 class share: +44%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Pasteurisation ranks #563 of 670 CPC technology areas - 386 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 44% over five years.

#563
of 670 CPC technology areas: 386
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Immunolight
leading assignee (17): +44%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C12H's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C12H recorded 186 grants versus 129 in 2015–2019 (+44% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 43 grants and bottomed in 2017 at 20 (+115% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Heineken Supply Chain B.V. holds 2.3% of the class ; the top three share 6.0%.

Leaderboard read

C12H concentration, lead at 2.3%

Heineken Supply Chain B.V. leads this historical grant record at 2.3% of C12H - us corporation assignees hold 60% of class grants (74 of 124). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 2.3%
Top three share: 6.0%
Lead over #2: 1

Where C12H sits inside C12

Among 12 subclasses in C12 (BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; Mutation OR Genetic Engineering), C12H ranks #9 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 C12C 506 C12G 389

Rising assignees active in C12H

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 Porifera, Inc. 1.33x 6 → 8 company-wide · 5 in C12H
#2 Heineken Supply Chain B.V. 0.95x 22 → 21 company-wide · 9 in C12H
#3 Imerys USA, Inc. 0.65x 20 → 13 company-wide · 5 in C12H
#4 ISP Investments LLC 0.46x 55 → 25 company-wide · 6 in C12H
#5 Roar Holding LLC 0.25x 4 → 1 company-wide · 5 in C12H

C12H grants by year, peak 2020 (43)

US utility-patent grants per year in C12H, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 44% versus 2015–2019.

Heineken Supply Chain…

9
Cavitation

8
Isp Investments

6
Imerys Usa

5
Porifera

5
Roar Holding

5
Gea Mechanical…

4
Purewine

4
Coravin

3
Grains Research And…

3
The Walter And Eliza…

3
Whitefox

3

What this shows Immunolight is the most active filer in C12H, holding 17 of the 386 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 C12H
Rank	Company	Patents in C12H
#1	Heineken Supply Chain B.V.	9
#2	Cavitation Technologies, Inc.	8
#3	ISP Investments LLC	6
#4	Imerys USA, Inc.	5
#5	Porifera, Inc.	5
#6	Roar Holding LLC	5
#7	GEA Mechanical Equipment GmbH	4
#8	Purewine Inc.	4
#9	Coravin, Inc.	3
#10	Grains Research AND Development Corporation	3
#11	THE Walter AND Eliza Hall Institute OF Medical Research	3
#12	Whitefox Technologies Limited	3
#13	Imerys Filtration Minerals, Inc.	3
#14	Mark Anthony International SRL	3
#15	Alfa Laval Copenhagen A/S	3
#16	Melbourne Health	3
#17	Lesaffre ET Compagnie	2
#18	Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.	2
#19	InnovaPrep, LLC	2
#20	Anheuser-Busch, LLC	2

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C12H 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 C12H assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C12H. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Questions about C12H

Which company holds the most patents in C12H?

Immunolight, LLC leads C12H with 17 patents (2.3% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 60% of class grants.

Which C12H assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C12H, Porifera, Inc. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (1.33x: 6 grants in 2019–2021 → 8 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does C12H compare inside parent class C12?

Inside C12 (BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; Mutation OR Genetic Engineering), C12H ranks #9 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

C12H in context - here's where to go next.

Heineken Supply Chain B.V. leads C12H with 9 grants in this class. See full portfolio
C12H ranks #563 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 - C12H figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (386 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.