AgriTech

A multidisciplinary sector addressing the challenges of improving global agricultural productivity.

Agriculture is at the heart of human civilization, but traditional methods alone can’t meet the demands of our growing population and changing climate. Enter Agritech – the fusion of agriculture and technology. Agritech is transforming farming practices, enhancing productivity, and ensuring sustainability for future generations. Improvements in efficiency and sustainability in agriculture continue to drive ingenious solutions that harness various cutting-edge technologies, such as genomics and gene editing, robotics, microbiome, big data, algorithms and AI.

As such, inventions in this sector increasingly involve crossover technologies. Our Agritech Team includes highly experienced attorneys across life sciences, chemistry, and engineering, who are familiar with pooling expertise and working in multidisciplinary teams to service your IP needs. Our Agritech Team works closely with our unique specialists in microbiome and bioinformatics, and can further assist with seeking protection for plant variety rights alongside patents.

HGF’s attorneys are already working at the forefront of agricultural innovation. We deal with inventions in accelerated plant breeding procedures, algal culturing, genetically engineered or modified crops, actives and formulations for plant protection products such as herbicides and pesticides, soil monitoring and preparations, growing and farming apparatus, surveillance and diagnostics, precision and digital agriculture, genetically engineered or modified animals, improved husbandry methods, microbiome and carbon neutral systems.

We believe in building lasting partnerships with our clients. Our team of experts is always available to provide integrated IP support and guidance, helping you make the most of your agritech inventions.

For more information on how our Agritech team can help you with your IP, please contact us to speak with one of our attorneys.

Latest updates

Are Functional Foods ‘Therapeutic’? Insights from the EPO’s Latest Ruling

Abstract: EPO decision T 1396/23 confirms that functional foods can support medical‑use claims when their therapeutic effects are credible, data‑backed, and tied to recognised clinical outcomes. This provides some comfort to …

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Strategic Deployment of Third Party Observations

This episode outlines the strategic use of European Patent Office (EPO) pre-grant Third Party Observations (TPOs) It explains how TPOs can be used to influence the outcome of competitor patent …

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Agritech Thymes: Rare UK Plant Variety Rights ruling provides guidance on the interpretation of “essentially derived varieties”

In this article, we examine a recent UK Plant Variety Right (PVR) case involving “Nadorcott” and “Tang Gold” mandarins. This judgement clarifies what constitutes an essentially derived variety (EDV) and …

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Agritech Thymes: Unlocking the Soil Microbiome: Driving Agritech Innovation in the UK

The UK offers an ideal platform for harnessing the untapped potential of soil and plant microorganisms. Although much of my professional experience has focused on the human microbiome, I have …

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Third party observations

Overview: Third Party Observations (TPOs) are a mechanism by which third parties can submit written observations in proceedings before the EPO. TPOs are often filed with the aim of persuading …

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EU Agrees on NGT Plant Regulation: What It Means for Patents and Licensing

The European Parliament and Council have reached a provisional agreement for plants developed using New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) – below we summarise the main points and set out the requirements …

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Agritech Thymes: The Bite of Implied Consent: Lessons from the Pink Lady Case

Can the supply of a plant variety without clear and defined restrictions on its use be an implicit consent to commercialise it? This case centres on the evidence required to …

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The Bite of Implied Consent: Lessons from the Pink Lady Case

A recent European Union court decision considers the issue of implied consent to commercialise a plant variety, and whether the evidence meets the threshold of “serious doubts” of the validity …

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Let's talk

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