Enzymatic Interesterification Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- Concentrated at the top: the top 5 assignees hold 48.3% of all 1,292 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 68.7%.
- Filing is still climbing: filings rose 62% from 2021 (45) to 2024 (73), the last year with complete publication coverage.
- Edible oils dominate the claim map: 60.1% of records sit in A23D, while baking applications (A21D, 8.4%) remain comparatively open.
Filing growth compares 2021 (45 records) with 2024 (73) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 1,292 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks patent activity at the intersection of enzymatic interesterification and broader fat modification processes, built around search terms spanning immobilized lipase chemistry, sn-position specificity, packed-bed reactor configurations, solid fat content control, trans-fat replacement and enzyme lifetime. The scope runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off, covering 1,292 published records assigned to a ranked field of 100 companies.
The field sits squarely in edible oil and fat processing, but its claim territory reaches into fermentation and enzymatic synthesis, confectionery fats, and baking applications — a spread that matters when deciding where a new filing is likely to collide with existing art versus where it is not.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,292-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend: steady growth through the last complete year
Annual filings grew from 12 in 2017 to a peak of 87 in 2022, with a documented 62% rise from 45 filings in 2021 to 73 in 2024 — the last year publication lag allows to be read as complete. Counts for 2025 and 2026 are shown but will understate true filing activity until later publications catch up.
Technology composition: edible oils lead, baking lags
A23D (edible oils and fats) appears on 60.1% of the 1,292 records, followed by C11C (fatty acids) at 38.9% and A23L (foods and beverages) at 26.6%. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100% of the record total; A21D (baking, doughs) sits furthest down the list at 8.4%, marking it as the least-claimed major application area in this dataset.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,292 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Enzymatic Interesterification and Fat Modification with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about enzymatic interesterification and fat modification and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in the field
Trans fatty acid free fat for frying produced by enzymatic interesterification and method for preparing the same
The filing describes frying oil produced via enzymatic interesterification that avoids trans fatty acid formation associated with partial hydrogenation. The resulting oil is specified to contain less than 1% trans fatty acid and less than 27% palmitic acid on a total fatty acid basis, while matching the solid fat content and melting point profile of partially hydrogenated oil.Filed by CJ Cheiljedang Corp., published 2010-07-15 as US20100178386A1.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5288619A | Enzymatic method for preparing transesterified oils | 362 |
| 2 | WO2001064864A2 | Single-stranded nucleic acid template-mediated recombination and nucleic acid fragment isolation | 161 |
| 3 | US20090099260A1 | Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid-Containing Solid Fat Compositions and Uses and Production Thereof | 110 |
| 4 | US5342768A | Immobilization of thermostable microbial lipase by adsorption to macroporous inorganic carrier particles | 95 |
| 5 | WO2005038037A2 | Methods for preparing phospholipids containing omega-3 and omega-6 moieties | 82 |
| 6 | WO2000005396A1 | foodstuff | 81 |
| 7 | WO2011069028A1 | Glycidyl ester reduction in oil | 74 |
| 8 | WO1996032022A1 | Edible plastic spread | 71 |
| 9 | US6369252B1 | Structured lipids | 67 |
| 10 | WO2008058165A2 | Bioanode and biocathode stack assemblies | 66 |
Citation counts inside this corpus favour older filings and should be read as a signal of influence on later work, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Reading the concentration, growth and composition figures together points to a field with an entrenched top tier but genuine room to file around the edges.
A narrow leading group, not a crowded field
Roughly half of all records in scope trace to five assignees, with the leader alone at 206 records. That concentration means core interesterification chemistry and reactor configurations are likely well covered by a small number of portfolios, raising freedom-to-operate stakes for new entrants working in the same core claims.
Momentum is still building, not fading
Filing volume rose from 45 records in 2021 to 73 in 2024, the last year that can be treated as publication-complete. Later years in the dataset show lower counts, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than a genuine slowdown.
Baking applications remain thinly claimed
While edible oils (A23D, 60.1%) and fatty acids (C11C, 38.9%) dominate the classification spread, baking-specific applications sit at the bottom of the list. That gap is worth checking against specific dough or bakery-fat claims before assuming the space is closed.
Some portfolios are built jointly, not solely in-house
The strongest co-assignee pairing in this dataset accounts for 62 shared records, well ahead of the next pairs. That pattern suggests some of the leading portfolios were built through corporate group structures rather than a single filing entity.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to enzymatic interesterification and fat modification, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Unilever PLC | Unilever N.V. | 62 |
| Novozymes A/S | Novozymes North America, Inc. | 14 |
| FUJI OIL EUROPE | CLEENEWERCK BERNARD | 11 |
| Unilever PLC | UNILEVER BCS LTD | 6 |
| Unilever PLC | UNILEVER BCS EUROPE BV | 6 |
| Unilever N.V. | UNILEVER BCS LTD | 6 |
| Unilever N.V. | UNILEVER BCS EUROPE BV | 6 |
| Unilever PLC | CONOPCO INC | 5 |
Co-assignee pairs point to group-level filing strategies rather than isolated inventor teams.
Who holds the ground, and where the gate sits
The ranked field of 100 companies is top-heavy: a handful of names account for most of the volume, while recent-year momentum shows some of that activity cooling even among the leaders.
The single largest portfolio in scope
The top-ranked assignee holds 206 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 88 and the tenth-place holder at 40. That gap between first and fifth place indicates a genuine leader rather than a tightly bunched group at the top.
A meaningful second tier before the long tail
Between fifth and tenth place, record counts fall from 88 to 40 — still substantial positions, but a clear step down from the leader. Together the top 10 account for 68.7% of all 1,292 records in scope.
Recent-year activity is cooling even at the top
Several of the highest-ranked assignees show sharp year-over-year declines in the latest year, though this should be read alongside the publication lag rather than as a sign the field itself is contracting. Some leading names show no recorded filings at all in the latest year shown.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| AAK AB (publ) | 4 | -73% |
| Cargill, Inc. | 1 | -90% |
| Novozymes A/S | 1 | — |
| Unilever PLC | 0 | — |
| FUJI OIL EUROPE | 0 | — |
| Unilever N.V. | 0 | — |
| Flora Food Global Principal BV | 0 | -100% |
| Bunge Oils, Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio strategy or technology scouting.
Check core reactor and enzyme claims against the leading portfolios
With 68.7% of records held by ten assignees, any new filing touching immobilized lipase reactor design should be checked directly against those portfolios before drafting.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaScout the under-claimed application branches
Baking applications and enzyme-lifetime-specific claims show lower filing density than core edible-oil chemistry, suggesting room for narrower, defensible claims.
Run a white space search in EurekaTrack filings past the publication-lag window
Because 2025-2026 filings are still publishing, revisit the trend data periodically rather than treating the current tail as a slowdown.
Set up monitoring in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
Filing in this field is concentrated: the top five assignees together account for 48.3% of the 1,292 records in scope, and the single leading assignee holds 206 records on its own. The gap between the leader and the fifth-ranked company (88 records) is large enough to call this a genuine leader rather than a tightly bunched top tier. Anyone assessing competitive position should look at this leader's specific claim scope before assuming open ground in core interesterification chemistry.
Yes, based on the last year with complete publication data: filings rose 62% from 45 in 2021 to 73 in 2024. The peak year recorded so far is 2022, with 87 filings. Counts shown for 2025 and 2026 appear lower, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than a genuine drop in activity, so those recent years should not be read as a slowdown.
This CJ Cheiljedang filing, published 2010-07-15, covers a frying oil produced by enzymatic interesterification that keeps trans fatty acid content below 1% and palmitic acid below 27% of total fatty acid content, while matching the solid fat content and melting point of a partially hydrogenated oil. It is one of the more cited records in this dataset. Anyone developing a trans-fat-free frying oil with similar solid fat content targets should review its specific compositional limits closely rather than assume the space is clear.
The classification data shows baking applications (A21D) at only 8.4% of the 1,292 records, well below edible oils (A23D, 60.1%) and fatty acids (C11C, 38.9%). Enzyme lifetime extension and continuous packed-bed reactor reuse also appear less densely claimed than core sn-position specificity chemistry. These lower-density branches are a reasonable starting point for scouting narrower, defensible claims, though a full freedom-to-operate check against the ranked leaders' specific claims is still necessary.
Among receiving offices in this dataset, Europe (EPO) leads with 258 records, followed by the United States at 199 and the WIPO PCT route at 192. Australia, Canada and Austria follow at lower but still notable volumes. This spread indicates that a filing strategy in this field typically needs to address European and US coverage as a baseline, with PCT filing as the common route into both.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.