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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/post-harvest-technology-patent-landscape-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-08-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Post-Harvest TechnologyPost-Harvest Technology Patents: Who Leads and Where the Claims Concentrate
- 37.7% of all 485 records sit with just five assignees — a top-heavy field where the leader alone holds 62 records, well ahead of fifth place at 21.
- Filings jumped +333% from 2021 to 2024 (3 to 13 among the fastest-growing recent years), even as the field's overall peak year remains 2020 at 38 records.
- C12N microorganism claims cover 44.1% of records, more than any other IPC subclass, while sugar and nucleic acid claims under C07H sit at just 6.6% — a visible gap for new entrants.
485
Published Records
38%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+333%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (3 records) with 2024 (13) — 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 485 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What the post-harvest technology patent record actually shows
Post-harvest technology sits at the intersection of crop biology and physical handling: claims range from microbial and genetic interventions that extend storage life to agrochemical treatments applied after harvest and equipment for grading and preserving produce. The 485 records in scope span filings from 2015 through the current data cut-off, drawing on receiving offices led by the United States, followed by Europe and the WIPO PCT route. Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years of the trend understate actual filing activity.
The dataset also captures co-assignee filing relationships and a most-cited-records table that flags the older, heavily cited foundational patents still shaping freedom-to-operate analysis today. Family-level counting, not raw document counting, is what the ranking and concentration figures below use, which keeps continuation filings and multi-jurisdiction duplicates from skewing the picture.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015 to present
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Post-Harvest Technology Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Numbers
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 485-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and how records distribute across the IPC subclasses that define the technology's boundaries.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Annual filings rose to a peak of 38 in 2020, then fell before rebounding sharply: 2021 to 2024 saw growth of +333%, from 3 to 13 records. 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in under publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) appears in 44.1% of the 485 records, ahead of A01H (plant breeding, 28.5%) and A01N (biocides and agrochemicals, 25.8%). Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add to more than 100% and should be read individually against the 485-record total, not against each other as a total pie.
Shares are the percentage of the 485 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Post-Harvest Technology Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Post-Harvest Technology Patent Landscape with Eureka
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Try EurekaRepresentative Filing
A representative claim and what it signals
Representative Record
CA3253503A1 — Method and composition for improvement of agricultural produce
UPL CORPORATION LIMITED
The filing covers a method for improving yield, disease management and post-harvest quality of a crop, plant or agricultural produce using laminarin or a laminarin-containing composition, including combinations of laminarin with additional agrochemically active agents such as fungicides.Filed by UPL Corporation Limited, dated 2023-09-14 — illustrates how post-harvest quality claims are increasingly bundled with disease-management and agrochemical combination claims rather than filed as standalone storage-condition inventions.
View full record in EurekaMost-cited records in the corpus
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US3879188A | Growth regulation process | 201 |
| 2 | US6194639B1 | ACC synthase genes from pineapple | 195 |
| 3 | US20100021555A1 | Compositions containing high omega-3 and low saturated fatty acid levels | 176 |
| 4 | US20070006335A1 | Promoter, promoter control elements, and combinations, and uses thereof | 101 |
| 5 | US20120084885A1 | Promoter, promoter control elements, and combinations, and uses thereof | 96 |
| 6 | US7173121B2 | Promoter, promoter control elements, and combinations, and uses thereof | 72 |
| 7 | US20060015970A1 | Nucleotide sequences and polypeptides encoded thereby useful for modifying plant characteristics | 65 |
| 8 | US20140020131A1 | Methods and compositions for producing male sterile plants | 64 |
| 9 | US20110191912A1 | Promoter, promoter control elements, and combinations, and uses thereof | 62 |
| 10 | WO2019032926A1 | Methods and compositions for improving engineered microbes | 53 |
Citation counts favour older filings by construction — a heavily cited 1970s-era record signals foundational influence, not current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Post-Harvest Technology Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the concentration and trend data mean for filing strategy
The numbers point to a field with a heavy top and a thin, fast-moving middle — decisions about where to file should weigh both.
Concentration
37.7% / top 5
of 485 records
The top of the field is genuinely concentrated
Five assignees hold 183 of the 485 records in scope, led by a single assignee at 62 records against a fifth-place figure of 21. That gap between first and fifth suggests one player has built a substantially broader portfolio than any single competitor, not that the top five are evenly matched.
Freedom-to-operate work should start with the leader's claim scope before the rest of the ranked list.
Growth
+333%, 2021→2024
filings, complete years
Recent growth is real but comes off a low base
Filings fell after the 2020 peak of 38 before rebounding: 2021's 3 records growing to 2024's 13 is a genuine acceleration, but the absolute volumes are still well below the 2020 high. Treat 2025–2026 figures as incomplete rather than as evidence of renewed slowdown.
Complete-year comparisons should stop at 2024 until later filings finish publishing.
Technology mix
44.1% C12N
of 485 records
Microorganism and genetic claims dominate crowded ground
C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) touches nearly half of all records, with A01H plant-breeding claims and A01N agrochemical claims each present in roughly a quarter. High density here means claim space is occupied — new filings need to differentiate mechanism or application tightly rather than file broad.
C07H sugar and nucleic-acid claims, at 6.6%, remain comparatively open.
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to post-harvest technology patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Co-filing patterns
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd. | Board of Regents, The University of Texas System | 11 |
| Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd. | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev | 7 |
| ECOLIBRIUM BIOLOGICALS HLDG LTD | TREADWELL MICHAEL | 7 |
| ECOLIBRIUM BIOLOGICALS HLDG LTD | SIGDEL ANKITA | 7 |
| ECOLIBRIUM BIOLOGICALS HLDG LTD | KIMBLE BERNARD | 7 |
| ECOLIBRIUM BIOLOGICALS HLDG LTD | FORD STEPHEN REYNOLD | 7 |
| Syngenta Group Co., Ltd. (Switzerland) | Syngenta Crop Protection AG | 4 |
| Rijk Zwaan Zaadteelt & Zaadhandel B.V. | VAN DUN CORNELIS MARIA PETRUS | 3 |
Ten identified co-assignee pairs exist in the dataset, with the strongest pairing appearing 11 times — evidence of sustained joint research relationships rather than one-off co-filings, concentrated among a small number of research institutions.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Post-Harvest Technology Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Assignee Landscape
Who is filing, and where the room to compete still exists
The ranked list covers 100 companies counted in records, not a top-50 or top-100 cutoff — it is the full ranking the dataset returns. Beyond the leading names, momentum in the most recent tracked year is thin across almost every ranked assignee, which is consistent with the publication-lag effect rather than a genuine pullback.
Leader
62 records
single assignee
One assignee holds a clear lead
The top-ranked assignee's 62 records sit nearly three times above the fifth-place figure of 21, indicating a portfolio built over a sustained filing programme rather than a recent surge.
Any competitive filing strategy should map this portfolio's claim boundaries first.
Mid-field
21 vs 13
5th vs 10th place
The mid-field thins out quickly
Between fifth place (21 records) and tenth place (13 records) the gap narrows, showing a genuine second tier rather than a sharp cliff — useful context for identifying acquisition or licensing targets outside the top names.
The top 10 combined account for 52.8% of all 485 records.
Momentum
≤1 filing
latest tracked year, most ranked assignees
Recent-year filings are quiet across almost every leader
Most of the leading assignees show zero or one filing in the latest tracked year. Given the roughly 18-month publication lag, this reads as incomplete data rather than an actual drop in activity.
Re-check momentum figures once the current year's publications finish filling in.
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Biotelliga Holdings | 1 | — |
| Rijk Zwaan Zaadteelt & Zaadhandel B.V. | 0 | — |
| Ceres, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 0 | — |
| The State of Israel Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development | 0 | — |
| Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Syngenta Group Co., Ltd. (Switzerland) | 0 | — |
| The University of Queensland | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Post-Harvest Technology Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Next Steps
Turning this landscape into a filing or licensing decision
The dataset flags where claims concentrate and where they thin out. What to do with that depends on whether the goal is defensive clearance, acquisition targeting or identifying open claim space.
Map the leader's exact claim boundaries
Before filing near C12N or A01H claim territory, pull the leading assignee's full family tree to see which specific mechanisms and applications are already covered versus merely adjacent.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaWatch the mid-field for licensing targets
The gap between fifth and tenth place is narrower than the gap at the very top, suggesting several assignees hold comparably sized, potentially licensable portfolios worth direct outreach.
Compare mid-field assignee portfolios in EurekaPrototype claims in the under-claimed branches
C07H sugar and nucleic-acid claims and fermentation-based approaches show lower filing density than the dominant subclasses, which is where a first-mover claim is more likely to clear cleanly.
Draft and stress-test a claim in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Post-Harvest Technology Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about the post-harvest technology patent landscape
The dataset's ranked assignee list of 100 companies is led by a single assignee holding 62 of the 485 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked assignee at 21 records. The top five assignees combined account for 37.7% of all records, and the top ten account for 52.8%. This is a concentrated field at the top, with a longer tail of smaller filers making up the remainder of the ranking.
Filing volume peaked in 2020 at 38 records, then dipped before recovering: complete-year data shows growth of +333% from 2021 (3 records) to 2024 (13 records). Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so they should not be read as a decline. Judged by complete years only, the trend is one of recovery and acceleration rather than contraction.
C12N, covering microorganisms and genetic engineering, appears in 44.1% of the 485 records in scope, making it the single most claimed subclass. A01H (plant breeding, 28.5%) and A01N (biocides and agrochemicals, 25.8%) follow behind it. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages overlap rather than sum to 100%, and each should be read against the full 485-record base individually.
The lowest-density subclasses in this dataset are C07H (sugars and nucleic acids, 6.6% of records) and C12P (fermentation and enzymatic synthesis, 8.0%), both well below the dominant C12N and A01H claim territory. That lower density does not guarantee an easy grant, but it does mean fewer prior filings to design around. Equipment-side claims and sensing-linked storage-condition monitoring also appear thinner relative to the biological and chemical claim volume dominating the rest of the field.
CA3253503A1, filed by UPL Corporation Limited in 2023, bundles a post-harvest quality improvement method using laminarin with combinations against additional agrochemically active agents such as fungicides. It reflects a broader pattern in the recent filings: post-harvest claims are increasingly written as combination claims spanning yield, disease management and storage quality together rather than as narrow, single-purpose storage inventions. Anyone filing a standalone post-harvest quality claim today should check whether a combination-style claim like this one already covers their intended use case.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Post-Harvest Technology Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.