This dataset identifies 232 published patent records in scope, filtered to filings that combine RFID packaging terminology with the B65D and B65B packaging IPC classes, covering 2015 through the 2026 data cut-off. That figure counts published records rather than granted patents, and it is a filtered subset defined by a specific search string rather than every RFID-adjacent packaging filing worldwide. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the true count for the most recent one to two years will rise as those filings publish.

The ranking covers 100 companies, counted by patent records, with the leading assignee holding 18 records and the field concentrating quickly after that — the top five assignees together account for 28.9% of all 232 records, and the top ten account for 42.2%. Beyond that point, filings spread thinly across a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants, so no one company dominates the space outright. A freedom-to-operate review should look at both the leaders and the tail, since the tail still represents the majority of filings.

Filing peaked in 2017 at 24 records and has since declined; the tracked 2021-to-2024 window shows a 50% drop, from 12 records down to 6. That is a real, documented decline over a three-year span with a complete data window. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so it would be premature to read the very latest years as continuing that slowdown.

US12049338B2, held by Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance and granted in 2024, claims a method of printing an RFID antenna directly onto a packaging web using a conductive material during in-line processing, rather than applying a separately manufactured tag or inlay. Anyone designing an in-line, print-based antenna deposition process for packaging webs needs to check their process steps against this claim scope specifically. It does not block approaches that attach pre-made RFID inlays or tags to finished packaging, since that is a materially different manufacturing method.

IPC class composition shows packaging-structure classes are heavily filed — B65D at 72.0% of the 232 records and B65B at 34.1% — while classes tied to computation and business logic are comparatively thin, with G06F at only 7.8% and G06Q at 14.2%. That gap suggests the physical packaging side of RFID integration is well covered by prior art, while software, data-processing and commerce-logic aspects of RFID packaging have more open claim space. Any first-filing strategy should weight toward those thinner classes rather than re-covering packaging structure.