Seed Coating Polymer Binders Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
- A small, uneven field. the assignee ranking returns just six companies against 15 published records, with the leader holding 10 and fifth place holding only 1 — a steep drop rather than a gradual tail.
- Filing peaked in 2020, not recently. eight records published that year is the high point so far, and the most recent year shows no published activity — a gap that publication lag partly explains.
- Biocide-class claims dominate. 93.3% of the 15 records sit in A01N (biocides/agrochemicals), while adjacent classes like polymer compositions (C08L) and planting equipment (A01C) each cover only a handful of records.
What This Landscape Covers
Seed coating polymer binders sit at the intersection of agrochemical formulation and materials science: the polymer or protein layer that holds active ingredients onto a seed while surviving handling, dust-off during planting, and germination without harming the embryo. This landscape draws on 15 published records matched against terms covering polymer adhesion, dust abrasion, coating uniformity, loading rate, seed flowability and germination effect, filed between 2015 and the 2026-07-31 cut-off. Publication lag of roughly 18 months means the most recent filing years are undercounted — a filing made in 2025 may not yet be visible in this dataset.
The field reads as narrow and concentrated rather than broad and fragmented. A handful of assignees account for the bulk of the ranked activity, filing activity clusters heavily around agrochemical and pesticide-activity classes, and the technology has not yet spread widely into adjacent equipment or materials classifications.
Filing Trend and Technology Composition
Two views of the same 15-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the records fall into. Because a single record can carry more than one IPC class, the composition shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
Filing Trend, 2017–2026
Filings were nil in 2017, rose to a peak of 8 records in 2020, and the trend has not sustained that level since. The most recent year on record shows 0 published filings — treat this as a visibility gap from publication lag rather than a real stop in activity, since filings made in the last 18 months are not yet fully published.
IPC Subclass Composition
A01N (biocides/agrochemicals) covers 93.3% of the 15 records, making it the default classification for this space. A01P (pesticide activity) follows at 46.7%. Smaller shares in A01C (planting & sowing), C07D (heterocyclic compounds), A01G (horticulture), C08L (polymer compositions) and H01M (batteries/cells) mark branches with only one or two records each — thin enough that a single new filing shifts the picture.
Shares are the percentage of the 15 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Seed Coating Polymer Binders with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about seed coating polymer binders and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-Cited Records in Scope
Protein-based film coatings and uses thereof
Film coatings comprising protein and lipid, and methods of using the film coatings to coat biological surfaces. When applied to the surface of plant seeds, the film coating adheres to and reinforces the outer seed coat or hull to maintain seed viability.Filed by 3 Star Ag LLC, published 2019-05-02 as US20190124916A1 — the most-cited record in this dataset at 8 citations.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20190124916A1 | Protein-based film coatings and uses thereof | 8 |
| 2 | WO2021061439A1 | Seed coating compositions | 4 |
| 3 | US20220361490A1 | Seed coating compositions | 1 |
| 4 | US11102976B2 | Protein-based film coatings and uses thereof | 1 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older records simply because they have had longer to accumulate references — read them as a signal of influence on the field, not of current technical importance.
Publication numbers are shown where the record carries one (4 of 4 rows); clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the Data Signals
Three findings stand out once the filing trend, assignee ranking and technology composition are read together.
A steep drop-off, not a gradual tail
The ranking lists six companies. The leader holds 10 records while fifth place holds just 1 — there is no smooth gradient of mid-sized filers between them, which suggests most of the sustained activity in this niche sits with a single organisation.
Activity peaked mid-decade
2020 is the high point of filing activity so far in this dataset. Years since have not matched it, though the most recent year is understated by publication lag — filings made close to the 2026-07-31 cut-off will not yet all be visible.
Almost everything files as a biocide
A01N covers 93.3% of the 15 records in scope, with A01P (pesticide activity) at 46.7%. Classes tied to the polymer chemistry itself, like C08L, cover only 6.7% — a sign that most applicants frame their claims around the agrochemical function rather than the binder material.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to seed coating polymer binders, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who Is Filing, and Where the Gate Sits
The ranked leaders in this dataset span established agrochemical formulators and smaller specialty filers. Coverage is thin enough that a new entrant filing two or three well-targeted applications could shift the ranking meaningfully.
The largest filer by a wide margin
One assignee holds 10 of the records in the ranking, well ahead of the rest of the field. Recent-year momentum data shows no new filings from this or other ranked assignees in the latest year, consistent with the publication-lag gap seen across the whole trend.
Single-filing entrants make up most of the ranking
Below the leader, holdings drop quickly to single-digit and single-record counts. This pattern is typical of a technology area still being explored by specialty and regional players rather than dominated by a handful of large multinational portfolios.
Filing activity splits across offices
India and the United States each show 3 filings, with Australia and WIPO PCT filings at 2 each, and single filings in Argentina and Canada. No single office dominates receipt of these applications, which points to a technology being protected in multiple regional markets rather than concentrated around one jurisdiction.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Corn Products Development Inc | 0 | — |
| 3 STAR AG LLC | 0 | — |
| SETHI SAHILA | 0 | — |
| SAHILA SETHI | 0 | — |
| BEST AGROLIFE LTD | 0 | — |
Where to Take This
The dataset points to a narrow, unevenly held field with several branches that have barely been claimed. The next step depends on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio-building, or scouting a gap to file into.
Map the leader's actual claim scope
Ten records from a single assignee is enough to constitute a real blocking position. Before designing around, the specific claim language on adhesion, loading rate or abrasion resistance needs reading in full, not just the abstract.
Explore the full claim set in EurekaTest the under-claimed branches
C08L, A01C and A01G each carry only one or two records. A targeted search across adjacent equipment and materials classes may surface prior art missed by an agrochemical-only search strategy, or confirm genuine white space.
Run a cross-class search in EurekaCommon Questions on This Landscape
Within this dataset of 15 published records, the assignee ranking lists six companies, and the leader holds 10 of the ranked records. That is a wide gap over the rest of the field: fifth place holds only 1 record. Because the total record count and the ranking are measured in different units, no overall market-share percentage can be stated from this evidence, but the gap between first and fifth place is itself informative about how concentrated activity is.
The peak so far is 2020, with 8 records published that year, based on the filing trend covering 2017 through 2026. Activity in the years since has not reached that level. The most recent year shows no published filings, which most likely reflects publication lag — filings made in the last 18 months typically have not yet appeared in public patent databases — rather than a genuine halt in R&D.
The large majority, 93.3% of the 15 records in scope, are classified under A01N, the biocides and agrochemicals class, with 46.7% also carrying A01P for pesticide activity. Smaller classes include A01C for planting and sowing equipment, C07D for heterocyclic compounds, A01G for horticulture, and C08L for polymer compositions specifically, each covering only one or two records. This distribution shows that most applicants frame their claims around the agrochemical effect of the coating rather than the binder polymer chemistry itself.
The technology composition data suggests yes, particularly in branches adjacent to the dominant A01N classification. Polymer composition claims (C08L), planting equipment integration (A01C), and horticultural or forestry seed applications (A01G) each show only one or two records in this 15-record dataset, meaning claim density there is thin. A well-drafted first claim in one of these branches would face comparatively little direct prior art from this search, though a full freedom-to-operate search should still be run before filing.
US20190124916A1, titled Protein-based film coatings and uses thereof and filed by 3 Star Ag LLC, is the most-cited record in this dataset with 8 citations. It covers film coatings made of protein and lipid applied to biological surfaces, including plant seeds, to reinforce the outer seed coat and maintain viability. Its citation count relative to the rest of the dataset marks it as an influential reference point for later filings in the protein-based and film-coating space, though citation counts inside a searched corpus tend to favour older records simply because they have had more time to accumulate references.
Research Seed Coating Polymer Binders in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole seed coating polymer binders corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.