CPC technology class · C12

C12Y - Enzymes

Enzymes. 17,214 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

17,214
US patents granted: #3/12
in C12: 11.9%
C12 class share: +7%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Enzymes ranks #109 of 670 CPC technology areas - 17,214 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 7% over five years.

#109
of 670 CPC technology areas: 17,214
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Novozymes A/S
leading assignee (540): +7%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C12Y's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C12Y recorded 7,299 grants versus 6,836 in 2015–2019 (+7% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2020 at 1,724 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 1,011 (+71% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Novozymes A/S holds 3.1% of the class ; the top three share 7.0%.

Leaderboard read

C12Y concentration, lead at 3.1%

Novozymes A/S leads this historical grant record at 3.1% of C12Y - us corporation assignees hold 59% of class grants (7,794 of 13,150). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 3.1%
Top three share: 7.0%
Lead over #2: 192

Where C12Y sits inside C12

Among 12 subclasses in C12 (BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; Mutation OR Genetic Engineering), C12Y ranks #3 and holds 11.9% 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 C12P 13,948 C12M 8,154 C12R 3,107 C12C 506 C12G 389 C12H 386

Rising assignees active in C12Y

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 Rockwool A/S 21x 0 → 21 company-wide · 5 in C12Y
#2 2seventy bio, Inc. 19x 0 → 19 company-wide · 5 in C12Y
#3 Dyne Therapeutics, Inc. 18x 2 → 35 company-wide · 12 in C12Y
#4 Enveric Biosciences Canada Inc. 17x 0 → 17 company-wide · 11 in C12Y
#5 Pairwise Plants Services, Inc. 17x 1 → 17 company-wide · 10 in C12Y

C12Y grants by year, peak 2020 (1,724)

US utility-patent grants per year in C12Y, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 7% versus 2015–2019.

Novozymes A/S

540
The Regents of the…

348
Codexis

323
Dsm Ip Assets B V

168
Novozymes

158
President and Fellows…

153
Danisco Us

144
Cj Cheiljedang

143
Jiangnan University

122
Immatics Biotechnologi…

117
The Trustees of the…

109
Regeneron Pharmaceutic…

103

What this shows Novozymes A/S is the most active filer in C12Y, holding 540 of the 17,214 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 C12Y
Rank	Company	Patents in C12Y
#1	Novozymes A/S	540
#2	The Regents of the University of California	348
#3	Codexis, Inc.	323
#4	DSM IP Assets B.V.	168
#5	Novozymes, Inc.	158
#6	President and Fellows of Harvard College	153
#7	Danisco US Inc.	144
#8	CJ Cheiljedang Corporation	143
#9	Jiangnan University	122
#10	Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH	117
#11	The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania	109
#12	Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	103
#13	Genomatica, Inc.	90
#14	The General Hospital Corporation	84
#15	The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System	80
#16	Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation	79
#17	aTyr Pharma, Inc.	74
#18	Baxalta Incorporated	73
#19	California Institute OF Technology	71
#20	Life Technologies Corporation	71

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C12Y 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 C12Y assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C12Y. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near C12Y's 17,214-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for C12Y (#109 of 670 by volume ; lead share 3.1%) - not the C12 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B64C 17,186 B65G 17,344 F02D 16,949 H04J 16,888

Nearest by lead-assignee share

F16B 3.1% B21K 3.1% G06T 3.1% F21Y 3.1%

Questions about C12Y

Which company holds the most patents in C12Y?

Novozymes A/S leads C12Y with 540 patents (3.1% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 59% of class grants.

Which C12Y assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C12Y, Rockwool A/S shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (21x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 21 in 2022–2024) while holding 5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does C12Y compare inside parent class C12?

Inside C12 (BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; Mutation OR Genetic Engineering), C12Y ranks #3 of 12 subclasses by grant volume and holds 11.9% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C12N (68,530 grants).

What to do with this data

C12Y in context - here's where to go next.

Novozymes A/S leads C12Y with 540 grants in this class. See full portfolio
C12Y ranks #109 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 - C12Y figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (17,214 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.