Starbucks has a total of 941 patents globally, out of which 491 have been granted. Of these 941 patents, more than 59% patents are active. United States of America is where Starbucks has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Canada and Japan, it has generated an annual revenue of $ 21.25 billion in the year 2020. 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. As of February 2022, Starbucks has a market cap of $ 108.71 Billion.
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 the founder and the CEO of Starbucks have?
The founders, Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker, have 0 patents respectively. The CEO, Kevin Johnson, has 0 patents.
How many patents does Starbucks have?
Starbucks has a total of 941 patents globally. These patents belong to 211 unique patent families. Out of 941 patents, 557 patents are active.
How many Starbucks patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
Patent Families
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 |
| 2011 | 54 | 5 |
| 2012 | 74 | 11 |
| 2013 | 32 | 13 |
| 2014 | 101 | 18 |
| 2015 | 88 | 26 |
| 2016 | 88 | 36 |
| 2017 | 43 | 42 |
| 2018 | 62 | 51 |
| 2019 | 65 | 63 |
| 2020 | 11 | 42 |
| 2021 | 27 | 45 |
| 2022 | – | 5 |
How Many Patents did Starbucks File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Starbucks Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 167 |
| Canada | 85 |
| Japan | 75 |
| Europe | 70 |
| China | 64 |
| Taiwan | 53 |
| Australia | 53 |
| Korea (South) | 52 |
| India | 38 |
| Mexico | 37 |
| United Kingdom | 28 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 25 |
| Brazil | 24 |
| Singapore | 21 |
| Russia | 20 |
| Colombia | 15 |
| Argentina | 9 |
| Malaysia | 8 |
| Germany | 8 |
| Spain | 6 |
| Chile | 5 |
| Peru | 5 |
| New Zealand | 4 |
| Austria | 2 |
| Turkey | 2 |
| Philippines | 2 |
| France | 2 |
| Switzerland | 2 |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 |
| Portugal | 1 |
| Romania | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Starbucks Patents Located?
10 Best Starbucks Patents
USD471804S1 is the most popular patent in the Starbucks portfolio. It has received 134 citations so far from companies like Cadbury, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, and Kraft Foods Global Brands.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Starbucks:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| USD471804S1 | 134 |
| US6702138B1 | 105 |
| US20120070542A1 | 91 |
| US7673555B2 | 85 |
| US20060085751A1 | 77 |
| USD516424S1 | 71 |
| US8156042B2 | 65 |
| US4790239A | 60 |
| WO2010005604A1 | 52 |
| USD484743S1 | 52 |
Which Companies are using Starbucks 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 citing companies in the Starbucks patent portfolio are Nestle, Dreampak, and Lavazza.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Nestle | 6 |
| Dreampak | 3 |
| Lavazza | 3 |
| Citicorp Credit Services | 3 |
| Keurig Dr Pepper | 3 |
| Nutricia Home | 2 |
| Nestec Sa | 2 |
| Teaspressa | 2 |
| Helen Of Troy Limited | 2 |
| Chouki International | 2 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Starbucks Patents
Top Starbucks Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US20120070542A1 | 19 |
| US7673555B2 | 13 |
| US6702138B1 | 13 |
| US8757421B2 | 11 |
| US7917432B2 | 9 |
| US9232873B2 | 6 |
| US20130177672A1 | 6 |
| US8910563B2 | 5 |
| US8944354B2 | 5 |
| US9783361B2 | 5 |
| US10314426B2 | 5 |
| US8156042B2 | 4 |
| US20080317924A1 | 4 |
| US8794127B2 | 4 |
| US4790239A | 4 |
What Percentage of Starbucks US Patent Applications were Granted?
Starbucks (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 68 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 43 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 69.35%.
Below are the key stats of Starbucks patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Starbucks?
| Law Firm | Total Application | Success Rate |
| Starbucks Corporation | 68 | 64.95% |
| Koller, Izaak | 17 | 94.12% |
| Hulett, Randy | 12 | 91.67% |
| Da Cruz, J. Marcio | 10 | 20.00% |
| Robinson, Urano A. | 10 | 20.00% |
| Shay, Brian | 10 | 100.00% |
| Cummer, Michael | 7 | 83.33% |
| Vu, Dien Van | 7 | 0.00% |
| Apone, Dan | 6 | 83.33% |
| Manoux, Philipe Roget | 6 | 100.00% |
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?