Agrochemicals

In a world facing rising demands for food security, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience, agrochemical innovation plays a critical role in supporting global agriculture.

Like the pharmaceutical industry, the agrochemicals sector is built on rigorous scientific development and operates within a highly regulated and competitive environment. Intellectual Property rights are vital not only to protect innovation, but also to secure commercial advantage, navigate regulatory pathways, and support long-term investment.

At HGF, we work alongside clients across the agrochemical value chain to secure and enforce their intellectual property. Our team advises on all aspects of IP strategy, from drafting and prosecuting patent applications to oppositions, freedom-to-operate analyses, and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). We represent our clients directly at the EPO and many national patent offices, and provide strategic litigation support before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and national courts across Europe.

Our deep sector knowledge spans chemical and biological crop protection products, formulation technologies, and application systems, including emerging digital agriculture tools such as sensor-driven platforms and drone-based delivery systems. We help clients generate and present compelling technical evidence, ensuring robust protection for innovations with complex biological data or synergistic effects.

Whether you’re developing a new active ingredient, entering new markets, or overcoming competitive barriers, we ensure your IP rights support your innovation and align with your commercial objectives.

Latest updates

HGF

Patent restoration

Inadvertent or accidental loss of patent rights can be distressing for patent holders and indeed for IP practitioners. The most common reason for restoration is when a patent has lapsed …

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SPCs for Combination Products – Will CJEU need to look again?

Key takeaways National courts have diverged on the interpretation of the EU Court of Justice’s latest decisions on SPCs for combination products – in particular on whether data in the …

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Event - 16th September 2026

Basel seminar - New developments in SPCs

VENUE – Der Teufelhof Basel, The Archaeological Cellar Join us on Wednesday 16th September 5:30 – 8:00 pm (CEST) for our seminar on the latest developments in Supplementary Protection Certificates …

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Playing Loose – CJEU asked to decide on combination SPCs

In a new referral (C-262/26), the EU’s Court of Justice has been asked to decide whether a medicine which receives a marketing authorisation (MA) as a monotherapy, but labelled with …

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Excipient or active ingredient? Look to the marketing authorisation…

In his recently issued (non-binding) Opinion in the Halozyme referral to the Court of Justice of the EU (C-456/24), the Advocate General has delivered a decisive “no” to the question …

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Six Sectors. Six Golds. Financial Times: Europe’s Leading Patent Law Firms 2026

HGF has once again been recognised with ‘Gold’ rankings across all six sectors in the Financial Times Special Report – Europe’s Leading Patent Law Firms 2026. We are one of …

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Pro = Active? CJEU asked to decide

In a new referral to the EU’s Court of Justice (C-794/25), the CJEU has been asked to rule on the question whether an approved pro-drug of a previously approved active …

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HGF

Santen Revisited – CJEU asked to think again on “first authorisation” for SPCs

A new referral to the Court of Justice of the EU (C-15/26) will once again consider what is meant by the “first marketing authorisation” requirement of Article 3(d) of the …

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Let's talk

If you would like to discuss how HGF could help you, contact one of our agrochemicals specialists.