GINC Patents
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Human Capital

Nutrition & Preventive Health

The capacity to keep the population well before it is unwell: nutrition, physical activity, immunisation and the health literacy to sustain them. One of the capabilities of Population Health.

International families
31k2015 to 2024
Leading country
United States1.5× the next
All families
177khome filings included
Over five years
Rising2020 to 2024 against the five before

Year by year

Patent families by country of origin and the year of the earliest filing, 2000 to 2025; 2025 is a part year, still filling in. International families are those for which protection was sought beyond one country.

Volume

International patent families in the capability, by the year of the earliest filing.

Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google

Share by country

Each country's share of the year's international families, in per cent: the capability's five largest countries of origin, 2015 to 2024, and the rest of the world.

Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google

Country leaderboard

International patent families, 2015 to 2024, by country of origin. Growth compares the latest five full years with the five before.

Ten largest

United States

South Korea

China

Japan

Switzerland

Netherlands

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Taiwan

7,952

5,251

3,446

3,403

1,203

1,040

1,019

894

722

610

2000 to 2025
1United States7,95225.6%1.2×
10,552
2South Korea5,25116.9%1.3×
28,647
3China3,44611.1%2.0×
112,863
4Japan3,40311.0%1.0×
9,606
5Switzerland1,2033.9%1.0×
1,249
6Netherlands1,0403.4%1.1×
1,096
7Germany1,0193.3%1.0×
1,213
8France8942.9%0.9×
1,053
9United Kingdom7222.3%1.0×
819
10Taiwan6102.0%1.0×
1,069
11Canada5981.9%1.0×
737
12Italy5391.7%1.1×
783
13Denmark4511.5%1.0×
472
14India4291.4%1.2×
493
15Belgium3801.2%0.8×
428
16Israel3291.1%1.3×
364
17Spain2951.0%1.3×
366
18Australia2860.9%1.0×
339
19Sweden2070.7%1.7×
214
20Türkiye1710.6%3.2×
327
21Ireland1550.5%0.7×
169
22Singapore1490.5%1.4×
162
23Finland1200.4%1.1×
137
24Austria1180.4%1.6×
125
25Brazil1180.4%0.8×
473
26Poland970.3%1.7×
524
27Russia950.3%1.0×
691
28Norway940.3%0.9×
98
29New Zealand920.3%1.5×
123
30Mexico530.2%1.0×
252
31Portugal490.2%1.4×
58
32Malaysia370.1%0.6×
53
33Luxembourg340.1%0.7×
43
34South Africa330.1%1.1×
35
35Hong Kong260.1%1.4×
37
36Hungary240.1%1.7×
40
37Czechia230.1%0.5×
50
38Saudi Arabia130.0%0.9×
34
39Cayman Islands70.0%0.8×
8
40Liechtenstein30.0%–
3

Applicants

The largest applicants by international patent families, 2015 to 2024: across the world, then within each of the five countries with the most families in Nutrition & Preventive Health. Names are as held in the source and are not consolidated across subsidiaries.

Global

31,022 international families

NESTLE SA · Switzerland

DSM IP ASSETS BV · Netherlands

SUNTORY HOLDINGS LTD · Japan

NESTEC SA · Switzerland

KOREA INST ORIENTAL MEDICINE · South Korea

UNIV CALIFORNIA · United States

722

244

242

202

194

194

United States

7,952 international families

UNIV CALIFORNIA

US HEALTH

CARGILL INC

PFIZER

UNIV PENNSYLVANIA

UNIV DUKE

191

130

112

108

86

80

South Korea

5,251 international families

KOREA INST ORIENTAL MEDICINE

AMOREPACIFIC CORP

UNIV YONSEI IACF

SEOUL NAT UNIV R&DB FOUNDATION

KOREA INST SCI & TECH

KOREA RES INST BIOSCIENCE & BIOTECHNOLOGY

194

181

156

152

106

105

China

3,446 international families

UNIV JIANGNAN

INFINITUS CHINA CO LTD

NANJING NUTRABUILDING BIO TECH CO LTD

CANSINO BIOLOGICS INC

INNER MONGOLIA YILI IND GROUP

INST MICROBIOLOGY CAS

134

57

51

36

33

31

Japan

3,403 international families

SUNTORY HOLDINGS LTD

MEIJI CO LTD

MORINAGA MILK INDUSTRY CO LTD

KAO CORP

AJINOMOTO KK

KIRIN HOLDINGS KK

242

166

103

75

67

51

Switzerland

1,203 international families

NESTLE SA

NESTEC SA

GIVAUDAN SA

SOCIA‰TA‰ DES PRODUITS NESTLA‰ S A

FIRMENICH & CIE

SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE SA

706

202

47

45

42

41

Similar capabilities

The nine capabilities that share the most international patent families with Nutrition & Preventive Health, 2015 to 2024: the families counted in both as a share of those counted in either. Each card shows its five largest countries.

Production & Innovation

Agrifood & Primary Production

14.4% shared · 20,056 families in both

United States

Japan

China

Germany

South Korea

28,708

17,669

15,613

10,229

9,737

Human Capital

Physical Health & Longevity

11.2% shared · 23,739 families in both

United States

China

South Korea

Japan

Germany

77,497

32,383

14,190

14,101

7,671

Critical Technology

Advanced Therapeutics, Vaccines & Medical Countermeasures

10.6% shared · 10,290 families in both

United States

China

Japan

South Korea

Germany

35,382

11,223

4,471

4,072

2,767

Critical Technology

Synthetic Biology & Genetic Engineering

5.5% shared · 5,499 families in both

United States

China

Japan

South Korea

Germany

31,378

14,103

6,820

3,970

2,703

Critical Technology

Biomanufacturing

5.5% shared · 5,291 families in both

United States

China

Japan

South Korea

Germany

25,142

10,048

9,595

4,747

3,497

Human Capital

Child Health & Nutrition

5.1% shared · 1,629 families in both

United States

Netherlands

Switzerland

China

South Korea

640

387

380

283

184

Human Capital

Mental Health & Wellbeing

2.8% shared · 1,301 families in both

United States

Japan

China

South Korea

Germany

5,106

2,712

1,646

1,455

591

Human Capital

Public Health Functions

2.7% shared · 1,197 families in both

United States

China

Japan

South Korea

Germany

5,511

1,782

1,627

909

600

Strategic Infrastructure

Public Health & Laboratories

2.1% shared · 1,093 families in both

United States

Japan

China

Germany

South Korea

7,163

3,632

2,667

1,475

1,202

Crosswalk

How Nutrition & Preventive Health is matched to the patent classifications. The entries below were chosen for it; each stands for itself and everything beneath it in the scheme, 100 Cooperative entries in all. A patent family counts when any of its codes, in either scheme and at any office, falls under one of them. Codes since retired are placed under the entries that replaced them.

EntryTitle in the schemeWhy it is chosenCPC codesIPC codesDocuments
A23L33/00Modifying nutritive qualities of foods; Dietetic products; Preparation or treatment thereofDietetic foods and nutritional supplements3232700,770
A61K39/02Bacterial antigensBacterial vaccines3113116,151
A61K39/12Viral antigensViral vaccines2928226,216
A61K39/002Protozoa antigensVaccines against protozoa, such as malaria6616,509
A61P25/34Tobacco-abuseMedicines for tobacco dependence1134,866
G16H20/60ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance relating to nutrition control, e.g. dietsSoftware for diet and nutrition control1121,444

CPC and IPC codes are the codes in use on patent documents, at any office, that fall under the entry. Documents is the larger of the two schemes' counts of documents carrying one of them. An entry with no IPC codes can be told apart only in the Cooperative scheme.

The Cooperative codes in use that count towards Nutrition & Preventive Health: 100 codes on 1,111,296 documents. The full crosswalk is in the cpc-to-capability.csv download.

CodeTitleUnder entryHow placedDocuments
A23L33/105Plant extracts, their artificial duplicates or their derivativesA23L33/00In the scheme125,630
A61K39/12Viral antigensA61K39/12In the scheme114,170
A23L33/10Modifying nutritive qualities of foods; Dietetic products; Preparation or treatment thereof using additivesA23L33/00In the scheme88,595
A23L33/135Bacteria or derivatives thereof, e.g. probioticsA23L33/00In the scheme51,244
A23L33/40Complete food formulations for specific consumer groups or specific purposes, e.g. infant formulaA23L33/00In the scheme39,704
A23L33/00Modifying nutritive qualities of foods; Dietetic products; Preparation or treatment thereofA23L33/00In the scheme37,837
A61P25/34Tobacco-abuseA61P25/34In the scheme34,866
A23L33/16Inorganic salts, minerals or trace elementsA23L33/00In the scheme33,558
A23L33/15VitaminsA23L33/00In the scheme31,277
A23L33/18Peptides; Protein hydrolysatesA23L33/00In the scheme30,604
A23L33/125Modifying nutritive qualities of foods; Dietetic products; Preparation or treatment thereof using additives containing carbohydrate syrups; containing sugars; containing sugar alcohols; containing starch hydrolysatesA23L33/00In the scheme29,002
A23L33/12Fatty acids or derivatives thereofA23L33/00In the scheme27,909
A23L33/115Fatty acids or derivatives thereof; Fats or oilsA23L33/00In the scheme27,593
A23L33/21Addition of substantially indigestible substances, e.g. dietary fibresA23L33/00In the scheme26,905
A61K39/145Orthomyxoviridae, e.g. influenza virusA61K39/12In the scheme24,057
A23L33/175Amino acidsA23L33/00In the scheme23,613
G16H20/60ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance relating to nutrition control, e.g. dietsG16H20/60In the scheme21,444
A23L33/17Amino acids, peptides or proteinsA23L33/00In the scheme18,529
A23L33/19Dairy proteinsA23L33/00In the scheme18,479
A23L33/185Vegetable proteinsA23L33/00In the scheme16,233
A23L33/30Dietetic or nutritional methods, e.g. for losing weightA23L33/00In the scheme13,030
A61K39/092StreptococcusA61K39/02In the scheme12,989
A61K39/21Retroviridae, e.g. equine infectious anemia virusA61K39/12In the scheme12,911
A61K39/215Coronaviridae, e.g. avian infectious bronchitis virusA61K39/12In the scheme10,563
A23L33/155Vitamins A or DA23L33/00In the scheme10,057
A61K39/095NeisseriaA61K39/02In the scheme10,034
A61K39/02Bacterial antigensA61K39/02In the scheme9,705
A61K39/08Clostridium, e.g. Clostridium tetaniA61K39/02In the scheme9,124
A61K39/245Herpetoviridae, e.g. herpes simplex virusA61K39/12In the scheme8,850
A23L33/22Comminuted fibrous parts of plants, e.g. bagasse or pulpA23L33/00In the scheme8,710
A61K39/04Mycobacterium, e.g. Mycobacterium tuberculosisA61K39/02In the scheme8,419
A61K39/155Paramyxoviridae, e.g. parainfluenza virusA61K39/12In the scheme8,164
A61K39/102Pasteurellales, e.g. Actinobacillus, Pasteurella; HaemophilusA61K39/02In the scheme7,640
A61K39/292Serum hepatitis virus, hepatitis B virus, e.g. Australia antigenA61K39/12In the scheme6,932
A61K39/29Hepatitis virusA61K39/12In the scheme6,864
A23L33/11Plant sterols or derivatives thereof, e.g. phytosterolsA23L33/00In the scheme6,373
A23L33/20Reducing nutritive value; Dietetic products with reduced nutritive valueA23L33/00In the scheme6,077
A61K39/0258EscherichiaA61K39/02In the scheme5,987
A61K39/085StaphylococcusA61K39/02In the scheme5,911
A61K39/015Hemosporidia antigens, e.g. Plasmodium antigensA61K39/002In the scheme5,292
A23L33/14Yeasts or derivatives thereofA23L33/00In the scheme4,796
A23L33/165Complexes or chelatesA23L33/00In the scheme4,716
A61K39/0275SalmonellaA61K39/02In the scheme4,675
A61K39/295Polyvalent viral antigens; Mixtures of viral and bacterial antigensA61K39/12In the scheme4,568
A61K39/099BordetellaA61K39/02In the scheme4,257
A61K39/09Lactobacillales, e.g. aerococcus, enterococcus, lactobacillus, lactococcus, streptococcusA61K39/02In the scheme4,178
A61K39/05Actinobacteria, e.g. Actinomyces, Streptomyces, Nocardia, Bifidobacterium, Gardnerella, Corynebacterium; PropionibacteriumA61K39/02In the scheme4,164
A23L33/26Polyol polyesters, e.g. sucrose polyesters; Synthetic sugar polymers, e.g. polydextroseA23L33/00In the scheme3,866
A61K39/0208Specific bacteria not otherwise provided forA61K39/02In the scheme3,798
A23L33/24Cellulose or derivatives thereofA23L33/00In the scheme3,705
A23L33/13Nucleic acids or derivatives thereofA23L33/00In the scheme3,696
A23L33/195Proteins from microorganismsA23L33/00In the scheme3,255
A61K39/0241Mollicutes, e.g. Mycoplasma, ErysipelothrixA61K39/02In the scheme3,093
A61K39/15Reoviridae, e.g. calf diarrhea virusA61K39/12In the scheme2,958
A23L33/145ExtractsA23L33/00In the scheme2,647
A61K39/13PoliovirusA61K39/12In the scheme2,600
A61K39/205Rhabdoviridae, e.g. rabies virusA61K39/12In the scheme2,541
A61K39/002Protozoa antigensA61K39/002In the scheme2,465
A61K39/235AdenoviridaeA61K39/12In the scheme2,439
A61K39/105Delta proteobacteriales, e.g. Lawsonia; Epsilon proteobacteriales, e.g. campylobacter, helicobacterA61K39/02In the scheme2,422
A61K39/07BacillusA61K39/02In the scheme2,418
A61K39/0225Spirochetes, e.g. Treponema, Leptospira, BorreliaA61K39/02In the scheme2,378
A61K39/285Vaccinia virus or variola virusA61K39/12In the scheme2,360
A61K39/275Poxviridae, e.g. avipoxvirusA61K39/12In the scheme2,244
A61K39/17Newcastle disease virusA61K39/12In the scheme2,148
A61K39/116Polyvalent bacterial antigensA61K39/02In the scheme2,144
A61K39/104Pseudomonadales, e.g. PseudomonasA61K39/02In the scheme2,030
A61K39/107VibrioA61K39/02In the scheme1,889
A61K39/125Picornaviridae, e.g. calicivirusA61K39/12In the scheme1,753
A61K39/012Coccidia antigensA61K39/002In the scheme1,747
A61K39/165Mumps or measles virusA61K39/12In the scheme1,620
A61K39/25Varicella-zoster virusA61K39/12In the scheme1,594
A61K39/135Foot- and mouth-disease virusA61K39/12In the scheme1,531
A61K39/008Leishmania antigensA61K39/002In the scheme1,432
A61K39/23Parvoviridae, e.g. feline panleukopenia virusA61K39/12In the scheme1,432
A61K39/0283ShigellaA61K39/02In the scheme1,308
A61K39/0266KlebsiellaA61K39/02In the scheme1,132
A61K39/0216Bacteriodetes, e.g. Bacteroides, Ornithobacter, PorphyromonasA61K39/02In the scheme1,116
A61K39/025Enterobacteriales, e.g. EnterobacterA61K39/02In the scheme1,083
A23L33/28Substances of animal origin, e.g. gelatin or collagenA23L33/00In the scheme1,019
A61K39/1045MoraxellaA61K39/02In the scheme885
A61K39/255Marek's disease virusA61K39/12In the scheme866
A61K2039/10Brucella; Bordetella, e.g. Bordetella pertussis; Not used, see subgroupsA61K39/02In the scheme804
A61K39/0233Rickettsiales, e.g. AnaplasmaA61K39/02In the scheme782
A61K39/265Infectious rhinotracheitis virusA61K39/12In the scheme758
A23L33/127AntibioticsA23L33/00In the scheme720
A23L33/29Mineral substances, e.g. mineral oils or claysA23L33/00In the scheme714
A61K39/098BrucellaA61K39/02In the scheme685
A23L33/25Synthetic polymers, e.g. vinylic or acrylic polymersA23L33/00In the scheme677
A61K39/005Trypanosoma antigensA61K39/002In the scheme673
A61K39/175Canine distemper virusA61K39/12In the scheme611
A61K39/225Porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virusA61K39/12In the scheme482
A61K39/0291YersiniaA61K39/02In the scheme473
A61K39/20Rubella virusA61K39/12In the scheme471
A61K39/114FusobacteriumA61K39/02In the scheme320
A61K2039/106Vibrio; Campylobacter; Not used, see subgroupsA61K39/02In the scheme308
A61K39/27Equine rhinopneumonitis virusA61K39/12In the scheme278
A61K39/187Hog cholera virusA61K39/12In the scheme245
A61K39/018Babesia antigens, e.g. Theileria antigensA61K39/002In the scheme240
A61K39/193Equine encephalomyelitis virusA61K39/12In the scheme206
Match: Through its tools
The classification names the equipment or technology the capability draws on, not the capability. The count says how much is being invented for it, not how well it is done. Captures nutrition products, vaccines and smoking-cessation medicines; A23L33 also holds general health foods, and physical activity equipment is counted under sport. The crosswalk is a first pass that nobody has reviewed.

Other capabilities in Population Health