Across the 25 companies in this ranking, one assignee leads clearly with 34 patent families, close to triple the count at fifth place (11 families). This gap indicates that the foundational coated-kibble and palatant-coating techniques were claimed early by a small number of incumbents, while later entrants have filed narrower, more specific improvements. Anyone entering this space should expect the leader’s portfolio to cover the broadest coating and application methods, with room remaining in more specialised sub-areas.

Filing peaked at 9 records in 2019 and the tracked 2021-to-2024 window shows a 100% decline, the most recent period that can be treated as a complete comparison. However, records from 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so it would be premature to call the field closed based on the newest years alone. A fuller picture of 2025-2026 activity will only be visible once those publications catch up.

This filing describes pet food palatability enhancers based on organic acids that also provide antimicrobial efficacy, filed under a collateral-agent assignee structure and dated 2014-06-05. It sits within the organic-acid palatability approach rather than the coated-kibble mechanical-application approach that dominates the most-cited records in this dataset. Anyone formulating an organic-acid-based enhancer with claimed antimicrobial properties should review this filing’s specific claim language before finalising a formulation.