Nestlé was founded in 1866, by Henri Nestlé and is doing business in food and drink processing, baby food, medical food, bottled water, breakfast cereals, coffee and tea, confectionery, dairy products, ice cream, frozen food, pet foods, and snacks. As of September 2021, Nestlé has a market cap of $339.05 Billion.
Nestlé has a total of 48621 patents globally, out of which 22617 have been granted, and more than 42% of these worldwide patents are active. USA is where Nestlé has filed maximum number of patents, followed by Europe and Australia and it also seems reasonable as the biggest market for the Nestlé Group is the United States, which generated $28.09 billion in sales in 2020. On the contrary, Europe seems to be the main focused R&D center and is also the origin continent of Nestlé.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of Nestlé which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Nestlé’s patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Nestlé’s patent portfolio.
How many patents does Nestlé have?
Nestlé has a total of 48621 patents globally. These patents belong to 10416 unique patent families. Out of 48621 patents, 20815 patents are active.
How many Nestle patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
Patent Families
How Many Patents did Nestlé File Every Year?
Are you wondering why there is a drop in patent filing for the last two years? It is because a patent application can take up to 18 months to get published. Certainly, it doesn’t suggest a decrease in the patent filing.
| Year of Patents Filing or Grant | Nestle Patent Applications Filed | Nestle Patents Granted |
| 2021 | 125 | 565 |
| 2020 | 588 | 1024 |
| 2019 | 1300 | 996 |
| 2018 | 1805 | 1133 |
| 2017 | 1972 | 1371 |
| 2016 | 2174 | 1522 |
| 2015 | 2286 | 1486 |
| 2014 | 2364 | 1487 |
| 2013 | 3352 | 1333 |
| 2012 | 3095 | 1170 |
| 2011 | 3127 | 966 |
How Many Patents did Nestlé File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Nestle Patents are Filed
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 4498 |
| Europe | 4472 |
| Australia | 3251 |
| China | 3085 |
| Canada | 2804 |
| Japan | 2280 |
| Brazil | 2220 |
| Mexico | 2013 |
| Spain | 1818 |
| Russian Federation | 1728 |
| Germany | 1562 |
| India | 1408 |
| South Africa | 1117 |
| Philippines | 971 |
| Portugal | 936 |
| Austria | 933 |
| Singapore | 797 |
| Chile | 786 |
| Poland | 722 |
| Argentina | 693 |
| Indonesia | 664 |
| Israel | 655 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 644 |
| Denmark | 626 |
| Korea (South) | 544 |
| Malaysia | 460 |
| Taiwan | 433 |
| New Zealand | 346 |
| Norway | 262 |
| Hungary | 240 |
| Ukraine | 195 |
| Peru | 147 |
| Colombia | 132 |
| Czech Republic | 119 |
| Slovenia | 107 |
| Turkey | 92 |
| United Kingdom | 90 |
| Greece | 84 |
| Thailand | 76 |
| Viet Nam | 70 |
| Croatia | 65 |
| France | 64 |
| Slovakia | 63 |
| Ecuador | 51 |
| Uruguay | 41 |
| Morocco | 39 |
| Africa | 38 |
| Egypt | 34 |
| Italy | 30 |
| Eurasia | 29 |
| Tunisia | 23 |
| Bulgaria | 20 |
| Costa Rica | 20 |
| Finland | 19 |
| Cyprus | 18 |
| Guatemala | 13 |
| Algeria | 9 |
| Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro | 8 |
| Romania | 7 |
| Panama | 6 |
| Switzerland | 6 |
| Serbia | 5 |
| Lithuania | 4 |
| Montenegro | 4 |
| Netherlands | 3 |
| Belarus | 3 |
| Saudi Arabia | 2 |
| Honduras | 2 |
| Belgium | 2 |
| Georgia | 2 |
| San Marino | 1 |
| Nicaragua | 1 |
| Ireland | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Nestlé Patents Located?
10 Best Nestle Patents
RU2277792C2 is the most popular patent in the Nestle portfolio. It has received 242 citations so far from companies like Procter & Gamble, Starbucks and Kraft Foods. The patent’s geographical coverage is in major countries like United States, China Europe, Japan and Brazil.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Nestlé:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| RU2277792C2 | 242 |
| US6832542B2 | 208 |
| US6026732A | 199 |
| WO2005004683A1 | 195 |
| WO2004082402A1 | 193 |
| USD505590S1 | 186 |
| USD447693S1 | 174 |
| US20040047896A1 | 150 |
| WO2007135136A1 | 148 |
| WO2009130099A1 | 146 |
Which Companies are using Nestle Patents to Advance their Research?
If patents or patents from a particular technology area of a company receive a lot of citations, it implies that the technology is being followed and incrementally innovated by the citing companies. It also indicates that citing companies are working on similar and closely related technologies.
The top companies in the Nestle patent portfolio are Nutricia Nv, Mars Incorporated and Conopco Inc.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Nutricia NV | 56 |
| Mars Incorporated | 55 |
| Conopco Inc | 55 |
| Koninklijke Douwe Egberts | 43 |
| Abbott | 35 |
| Kraft Foods | 34 |
| Mead Johnson Nutrition | 31 |
| Philips | 28 |
| Hill’S Pet Nutrition | 25 |
| General Mills | 24 |
| Intercontinental Great Brands | 20 |
| L’Oréal | 19 |
| Unicharm | 18 |
| Coca Cola | 17 |
| K-Fee System Gmbh | 17 |
| Whirlpool | 15 |
| Luigi Lavazza Spa | 14 |
| Quaker Oats Company | 14 |
| Procter & Gamble | 13 |
| Discma Ag | 12 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Nestle Patents
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US5968569C1 | 25 |
| US20050153018A1 | 22 |
| US6832542B2 | 17 |
| US7604826B2 | 16 |
| US8797166B2 | 15 |
| US6889603B2 | 15 |
| US9162815B2 | 14 |
| US7993691B2 | 14 |
| US6493641B1 | 14 |
| US7101565B2 | 14 |
| US9242791B2 | 12 |
| US7473388B2 | 12 |
| US7669517B2 | 12 |
| US6261627B1 | 12 |
| US7412921B2 | 11 |
| US6926917B2 | 11 |
| US6849830B2 | 11 |
| US7032818B2 | 11 |
| US20100233129A1 | 11 |
What Percentage of Nestlé US Patent Applications were Granted?
Nestle (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 4356 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 2614 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 65.66%.
Below are the key stats of Nestle’s patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Nestlé?
| Law Firm | Total Application | Success Rate |
| K&L Gates | 2358 | 56.37% |
| Winston & Strawn | 406 | 77.04% |
| Vogt & O Donnell | 334 | 88.19% |
| Nestle | 334 | 59.42% |
| Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton | 134 | 64.29% |
| Pennie & Edmonds | 93 | 87.10% |
| Dunlap Codding | 54 | 51.85% |
| William H Vogt Iii | 53 | 96.23% |
| Alcon Inc | 52 | 90.38% |
| Eugene C Ziehm | 32 | 90.63% |
“Nestlé’s success is built on meeting fast-changing consumer demand around the world. In this dynamic environment innovation leadership is key to winning in the marketplace. Strengthening our discovery research capabilities will give us an edge when it comes to developing the technologies for the next generation of must-have products.” said Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider.
The Nestlé Research Center (NRC) and the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences have been integrated together to take Nestlé’s R&D to a “new level”. Nestlé is always evolving and staying future-focused so that it can creatively, efficiently, and smartly serve its consumer needs.
Do you want to know about the areas of Innovation, Nestlé is currently working on?
What Technologies are Covered by Nestlé Patents?
The chart below distributes patents filed by Nestlé in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where Nestle thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How Nestlé Research Focus Changed Over the Years?
Are you curious to know about the development areas of Nestlé innovation through the years?