Unilever has a total of 43123 patents globally, out of which 17946 have been granted. Of these 43123 patents, more than 60% patents are active. United States of America is where Unilever has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Europe and India, it has generated an annual revenue of $56.86 billion in the year 2020. Parallelly, Europe seems to be the main focused R&D center and is also the origin country of Unilever.
Unilever was founded in the year 1987 by Antonius Johannes Jurgens, Samuel van den Bergh, and Georg Schicht. Company is doing business in Home Care, Beauty & Personal Care, and Foods & Refreshment. As of January 2022, Unilever has a market cap of $138.47 Billion.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of Unilever which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Unilever’s patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Unilever’s patent portfolio.
Did you know Unilever has 1200+ products and 140+ brands worldwide in the dairy industry? Explore Nestle’s diverse range of dairy offerings by clicking here for the full product list.
How many patents does the founder and the CEO of Unilever have?
The founders, Antonius Johannes Jurgens, Samuel van den Bergh, and Georg Schicht have 0 patents respectively. The CEO, Alan Jope has 0 patents.
How many patents does Unilever have?
Unilever has a total of 43123 patents globally. These patents belong to 15914 unique patent families. Out of 43123 patents, 25973 patents are active.
How many Unilever patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
Patent Families
How Many Patents did Unilever 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 | Unilever Applications Filed | Unilever Patents Granted |
| 2011 | 2221 | 1022 |
| 2012 | 1967 | 973 |
| 2013 | 2167 | 948 |
| 2014 | 1644 | 1041 |
| 2015 | 1527 | 1099 |
| 2016 | 1773 | 1344 |
| 2017 | 2048 | 1149 |
| 2018 | 1972 | 896 |
| 2019 | 1722 | 997 |
| 2020 | 844 | 921 |
| 2021 | 295 | 915 |
How Many Patents did Unilever File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Unilever Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 3814 |
| Europe | 3753 |
| India | 2805 |
| China | 2798 |
| Brazil | 2593 |
| Australia | 2124 |
| South Africa | 1679 |
| Canada | 1645 |
| Thailand | 1593 |
| Argentina | 1567 |
| Mexico | 1498 |
| Japan | 1251 |
| Indonesia | 1248 |
| Germany | 1188 |
| Turkey | 1129 |
| Spain | 1038 |
| Austria | 796 |
| Vietnam | 794 |
| Eurasia | 768 |
| United Kingdom | 717 |
| Philippines | 677 |
| Poland | 547 |
| Chile | 532 |
| Russia | 341 |
| Korea (South) | 310 |
| Taiwan | 174 |
| Malaysia | 134 |
| Israel | 121 |
| Hungary | 117 |
| Portugal | 103 |
| Africa | 73 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 54 |
| Czech Republic | 50 |
| Singapore | 48 |
| Denmark | 43 |
| Ukraine | 42 |
| Colombia | 42 |
| France | 40 |
| Egypt | 35 |
| New Zealand | 30 |
| Uruguay | 22 |
| Saudi Arabia | 20 |
| Peru | 18 |
| Slovakia | 16 |
| Ecuador | 14 |
| Morocco | 14 |
| Norway | 9 |
| Netherlands | 8 |
| Italy | 8 |
| Bulgaria | 5 |
| Slovenia | 4 |
| Dominican Republic | 4 |
| Romania | 2 |
| Ireland | 1 |
| Latvia | 1 |
| Guatemala | 1 |
| Gulf Cooperation Council | 1 |
| Panama | 1 |
| Belgium | 1 |
| Jordan | 1 |
| Serbia | 1 |
| Croatia | 1 |
| Caribbean | 1 |
| Costa Rica | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Unilever Patents Located?
10 Best Unilever Patents
WO2005003274A1 is the most popular patent in the Unilever portfolio. It has received 289 citations so far from companies like The Procter and Gamble, Novozymes, and Henkel.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Unilever:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| WO2005003274A1 | 289 |
| US20040125996A1 | 227 |
| US20040134007A1 | 215 |
| US20090068255A1 | 210 |
| WO2005003275A1 | 209 |
| WO2003040279A1 | 209 |
| EP1355209A1 | 208 |
| WO2005003276A1 | 200 |
| US20070074114A1 | 181 |
| USD581279S1 | 171 |
Which Companies are using Unilever 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 Unilever patent portfolio are Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, and Henkel.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Procter & Gamble | 211 |
| L’Oréal | 95 |
| Henkel | 71 |
| Nestle | 63 |
| Colgate-Palmolive | 62 |
| Kao Corporation | 28 |
| Rhodia Operations | 20 |
| DSM IP Assets | 17 |
| Elc Management | 15 |
| Ecolab | 13 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Unilever Patents
Top Unilever Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US20090068255A1 | 40 |
| US7349776B2 | 29 |
| US20070074114A1 | 18 |
| US20040219118A1 | 15 |
| US20060104918A1 | 15 |
| US20080275348A1 | 14 |
| US20040125996A1 | 12 |
| US20050266137A1 | 11 |
| US7715894B2 | 10 |
| US8518384B2 | 10 |
| US7527806B2 | 9 |
| US20070073799A1 | 9 |
| US20040134007A1 | 9 |
| US20030136701A1 | 9 |
| US20060088496A1 | 9 |
What Percentage of Unilever US Patent Applications were Granted?
Unilever (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 3579 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 1839 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 55.49%.
Below are the key stats of Unilever patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Unilever?
| Law Firm | Total Application | Success Rate |
| Unilever Patent Group | 2028 | 46.00% |
| Cushman Darby & Cushman | 147 | 87.07% |
| Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman Llp | 140 | 72.99% |
| Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox P L L C | 103 | 79.61% |
| Foley & Lardner Llp | 73 | 29.69% |
| Arent Fox Llp Los Angeles | 64 | 95.83% |
| N V Nederlandsch Octrooibureau | 61 | 30.77% |
| Morgan Lewis & Bockius Llp Wa | 46 | 60.87% |
| Carter Deluca & Farrell Llp | 20 | 0% |
| Foley Hoag Llp W Isa | 20 | 80.00% |
“Innovation is at the heart of Unilever’s ambition to grow sustainably. Science, Technology and Product Development are central to our plans to keep providing consumers with brands that improve their lives while having a positive impact on the environment and society.”
Unilever’s inventions are all based on significant insights into the requirements and desires of consumers. Unilever strives to create goods with a purpose that customers will pick again and again.
Unilever is working on a wide range of projects, combining the hunt for breakthrough technology with the continual need to adapt to consumer needs and improve the sustainability of Unilever products.
Unilever accomplishes this by combining significant consumer trends, cutting-edge science, and the use of data and digital technologies to create exceptional products, services, and experiences. Unilever’s investment in safe science underlies the company’s leadership in alternatives to animal testing, while its grasp of cutting-edge bioscience is resulting in innovations in consumer hygiene and microbiome care.
Unilever’s goods, whether developed internally or in collaboration with premier scientists, academic institutions, suppliers, and specialty businesses, are critical to the company’s goal of making a positive effect.
Everything Unilever does is based on sustainability and environmental protection. Long-term science and technology programmes at Unilever are solely focused on innovations that have a positive impact on the environment and provide superior experiences for Unilever customers. Unilever’s substantial scale and sense of purpose are being used to expedite the industry’s transition to renewable and biodegradable ingredients and forms. This includes taking the lead in the industry on plastic waste and making bold promises to phase out the use of fossil fuels in goods and replace them with 100 percent renewable energy in Unilever operations by 2030.
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!
What are Unilever key innovation segments?
What Technologies are Covered by Unilever?
The chart below distributes patents filed by Unilever in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where Unilever thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How Unilever search focus changed over the years?
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!
Interested in knowing about the areas of innovation that are being protected by Unilever?