Starbucks has a total of 1769 patents globally, out of which 1135 have been granted. Of these 1769 patents, more than 65% patents are active. United States of America is where Starbucks has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Europe (EPO) and China. Parallelly, USA seems to be the main focused R&D centre.
Starbucks was founded in the year 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker. Starbucks Corporation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is an American international coffeehouse and roastery business. It is the largest coffeehouse chain in the world.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of Starbucks which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Starbucks’ patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Starbucks’ patent portfolio.
How many patents does Starbucks have?
Starbucks has a total of 1769 patents globally. These patents belong to 366 unique patent families. Out of 1769 patents, 1172 patents are active.
How Many Patents did Starbucks 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 | Starbucks Applications Filed | Starbucks Patents Granted |
| 2026 | 16 | 45 |
| 2025 | 114 | 214 |
| 2024 | 146 | 122 |
| 2023 | 225 | 96 |
| 2022 | 168 | 79 |
| 2021 | 90 | 58 |
| 2020 | 18 | 54 |
| 2019 | 101 | 95 |
| 2018 | 76 | 63 |
| 2017 | 57 | 46 |
How many Starbucks patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
How Many Patents did Starbucks File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Starbucks Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States of America | 329 |
| Europe (EPO) | 233 |
| China | 149 |
| Canada | 119 |
| Japan | 106 |
| United Kingdom | 93 |
| Taiwan | 92 |
| Europe | 86 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 53 |
| South Korea | 52 |
| Mexico | 51 |
| Australia | 48 |
| India | 40 |
| Brazil | 30 |
| Korea (South) | 22 |
| Singapore | 20 |
| Russia | 20 |
| Germany | 19 |
| Colombia | 18 |
| Austria | 17 |
| Spain | 11 |
| Argentina | 9 |
| Malaysia | 8 |
| Italy | 5 |
| Peru | 5 |
| Chile | 5 |
| New Zealand | 4 |
| Turkey | 4 |
| Switzerland | 3 |
| Norway | 2 |
| Portugal | 1 |
| Ukraine | 1 |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Starbucks Patents Located?
10 Best Starbucks Patents
US20060085751A1 is the most popular patent in the Starbucks portfolio. It has received 121 citations so far from companies like Sprint Communications and Microsoft.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Starbucks:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US20060085751A1 | 121 |
| US7673555B2 | 99 |
| USD516424S1 | 83 |
| US20150257586A1 | 51 |
| US9999315B2 | 46 |
| USD536976S1 | 44 |
| US20050080672A1 | 43 |
| USD785455S1 | 43 |
| USD767993S1 | 41 |
| US9275325B2 | 39 |
What Percentage of Starbucks US Patent Applications were Granted?
Starbucks (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 172 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 95 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 79.83%.
Below are the key stats of Starbucks patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms are managing US Patents for Starbucks?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear Llp | 130 | 74.71% |
| Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Llp | 31 | 96.15% |
| Ballard Spahr Llp | 8 | 100.00% |
| Christensen O Connor Johnson Kindness Pllc | 2 | 0% |
| Christensen O Connor Johnson Kindness Pllc | 1 | 0.00% |
Starbucks, which brought a greater variety of coffee experiences, is widely credited with launching the second wave of coffee culture. Starbucks offers a variety of hot and cold beverages, pastries, and snacks. Some items are only available during certain seasons or are unique to the store’s location.
Starbucks has successfully positioned itself as a tiny bit of luxury that practically everybody can buy. Starbucks feels like an indulgence or a reward, with its Italianized beverage names, appealing décor, and even some of its astronomically expensive costs. One that happens to be in a convenient location, well, almost everywhere. When you treat yourself to your favourite cappuccino on the way to work on a Monday morning, it’s easier to drag yourself to work. Many studies have demonstrated that branding and innovative packaging improve our enjoyment of meals and drinks, as well as our perception of how they taste.
You might wonder, except from learning how to use a coffee machine, what does technology have to do with coffee. Quite a bit, actually. At least in the case of Starbucks, the beverage giant. Even if you’ve never visited a Starbucks, think their coffees are outrageously costly, or believe they’re overrated, you’ve undoubtedly heard of them. Their fame has grown to the point where the brand name is practically synonymous with coffee.
“to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time.”
AI for Humanity: The basic premise is that the less time employees spend messing with machinery and doing mindless chores, and the more comfortable customers are, the more potential for real connections to be made over coffee. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also at the heart of many processes. Starbucks’ internal AI engine, Deep Brew, was created just for this.
The Starbucks mobile app, which was first released in 2011, provides the majority of the functionality for improving user experience. The app has evolved from just being a way to make payments and manage rewards to providing you recommendations and telling you tales. Users can earn awards and exchange them for drinks through their Loyalty programme. This, paired with the app’s availability of business hours, menus, and other information, greatly boosted its appeal. Starbucks now uses the app as a data mine to better understand customer preferences and trends.
Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, and Machine Learning are just a few of the modern tech sectors that Starbucks employs.
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!
What are Starbucks key innovation segments?
What Technologies are Covered by Starbucks?
The chart below distributes patents filed by Starbucks in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where Starbucks thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How Starbucks search focus changed over the years?
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!
Interested in knowing about the areas of innovation that are being protected by Starbucks?
