Seed Pelleting Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- One filer dominates the ranking. the leader holds 86 of the 175 records in scope, against a fifth-place assignee at 8 and a tenth-place assignee at just 2 — a steep drop-off after the top.
- Filing has cooled since its 2022 peak. activity topped out at 13 records in 2022, and the tracked growth window shows a full -100% swing from 2021 (5) to 2024 (0), the last year that can be read as complete.
- Claims cluster in plant breeding and biocide classes. A01H covers 45.1% of the 175 records and A01N covers 32.6%, while fertiliser mixtures (C05G) and horticulture (A01G) sit far lower at single-digit-to-low-double-digit shares.
Filing growth compares 2021 (5 records) with 2024 (0) — 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.
What the seed pelleting and encrusting filing record shows
Seed pelleting and encrusting patents cover how an inert core, filler material and active ingredients are combined into a pellet or coating around a seed, and how that pellet behaves once it’s planted — its roundness, its splitting behaviour, its oxygen permeability, and how much weight it adds relative to the bare seed. 175 published records sit in scope for this search, spanning receiving offices from the United States through Europe, WIPO, Australia, Canada and Israel. The most recent filing years are necessarily undercounted, since publication trails filing by roughly 18 months.
The assignee ranking is short and steep: 23 companies appear in it at all, and the distance between the leader and the rest of the field is large relative to the tail. Technology composition points toward plant breeding and agrochemical biocide classes as the dense centre of gravity, with planting/sowing mechanics, fertiliser mixtures and horticulture-specific claims occupying smaller, more open corners of the same field.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 175-record dataset: filing activity by year, and how records split across IPC subclasses. Because a single record can carry more than one IPC class, the composition shares add up to more than 100%.
Filing activity, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 6 in 2017 to a peak of 13 in 2022, then declined; the tracked window from 2021 (5) to 2024 (0) shows a full -100% change. Treat 2025 and 2026 as still filling in rather than as evidence of a further drop.
IPC subclass composition (share of 175 records)
A01H (new plants/breeding) and A01N (biocides/agrochemicals) each cover a large share of records at 45.1% and 32.6% respectively, with C12N (microorganisms/genetic engineering) close behind at 26.9%. Planting mechanics (A01C, 22.3%) and pesticide-activity claims (A01P, 18.3%) form a mid-tier, while fertiliser mixtures (C05G, 8.6%), horticulture (A01G, 8.0%) and peptide/protein claims (C07K, 8.0%) are the thinnest-claimed subclasses in scope.
Shares are the percentage of the 175 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Seed Pelleting and Encrusting with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about seed pelleting and encrusting and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this field
US20060150489A1 — Protection of germinating seed and pills containing pesticides
The invention relates to an active-ingredient-containing pellet comprising an inert core and at least one active ingredient, wherein said active ingredient is advantageous for a plant seed or a plant. The invention also relates to a seed-containing pellet and a method for improving the germination of a seed-containing pellet.Filed by Incotec Europe B.V., published 2006-07-13; cited 77 times within this dataset.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO2007067042A1 | Protection of germinating seed and pills containing pesticides | 149 |
| 2 | WO2005120226A2 | Method of applying pesticides | 130 |
| 3 | WO2007067044A2 | Modified active-ingredient-containing pellets/capsules | 115 |
| 4 | US20060150489A1 | Protection of germinating seed and pills containing pesticides | 77 |
| 5 | WO2015036378A1 | Spinach plants that are resistant to downy mildew | 67 |
| 6 | WO2015036469A1 | Spinach plants that are resistant to downy mildew | 55 |
| 7 | WO2008107097A1 | Safeguarding seed safety of treated seeds | 51 |
| 8 | EP2848114A1 | Spinach plants that are resistant to downy mildew | 43 |
| 9 | EP1795071A1 | Modified active-ingredient-containing pellets/capsules | 34 |
| 10 | US20100130365A1 | Safeguarding seed safety of treated seeds | 30 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings that have had more years to accumulate references — read them as a signal of influence on later filings, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the data means for a filing or freedom-to-operate decision
Three read-throughs from the numbers above, aimed at where a new filing would land relative to existing claim density.
The top of the ranking is steep, not flat
The leading assignee holds 86 of the 175 records in scope. Fifth place sits at only 8, and tenth place at 2 — a long tail of single- or low-digit-filing entrants follows a single dominant filer, rather than a cluster of comparable competitors.
Growth has fully reversed over the tracked window
Filing activity peaked at 13 records in 2022 before falling to zero by 2024, the last year in this dataset that can be treated as complete. This does not mean the underlying technology is exhausted — it means fewer new applications entered the record in that window.
Breeding and biocide claims dominate; horticulture and fertiliser claims are thin
A01H and A01N together cover the majority of records, meaning most claim activity sits on plant-breeding and biocide functionality rather than on the pellet's physical or agronomic mechanics. Horticulture (A01G) and fertiliser mixtures (C05G) each sit near 8%, suggesting comparatively open claim space around those uses.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to seed pelleting and encrusting, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claims, and where the gaps sit
The ranking returned by the data endpoint lists 23 companies; it is not a top-50 or top-100 cut, it is the complete set the search surfaced. Co-assignee pairs point to a handful of recurring collaborations rather than a broad web of joint filing.
One assignee holds roughly a third of the field on its own
The leading filer's record count dwarfs the rest of the ranking. Anyone assessing freedom to operate in this space should expect that filer's claims to sit under most core pellet and coating configurations.
A handful of seed-technology specialists occupy the middle of the ranking
Below the leader, mid-ranked assignees each hold single-digit-to-low-double-digit record counts. These are the filers most likely to be active in narrower sub-claims — specific fillers, coating processes, or active-ingredient combinations.
A long tail of individual and small-entity filers
Several names in the ranking, including individual inventors, hold only one or two records each. That tail is where opportunistic or narrowly-scoped filings tend to sit, rather than broad platform claims.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Nunhems B.V. | 0 | — |
| Bayer CropScience LP | 0 | — |
| KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA | 0 | — |
| Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH | 0 | — |
| Incotec Europe B.V. | 0 | — |
| Syngenta Participations AG (Switzerland) | 0 | — |
| VAN ZEE JOHAN | 0 | — |
| LEGRO ROBERT JEAN | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a concentrated leader, a cooling filing trend through 2024, and specific IPC subclasses that remain thinly claimed. The next step is turning those patterns into a filing or FTO decision.
Map a candidate claim against the dense subclasses
Before drafting, check how a proposed pellet formulation or coating process reads against the A01H and A01N claim density identified here, not just against the leading assignee's portfolio.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack momentum in the thinner subclasses
C05G, A01G and C07K carry the lowest record shares in this dataset — worth monitoring for new entrants before they become as dense as A01H.
Set up a monitoring search in EurekaCommon questions about seed pelleting and encrusting patents
One assignee leads the ranked field by a wide margin, holding 86 of the 175 records in scope, compared with 8 records at fifth place and 2 at tenth. This is a steep concentration rather than a flat field of comparable competitors. The remaining 22 ranked assignees, including several individual inventors, fill out a long tail with much smaller filing counts each.
Filing activity peaked at 13 records in 2022, and the tracked window shows a full -100% change from 2021 (5 records) to 2024 (0 records), the most recent year in this dataset that can be treated as complete. Years after 2024 are not yet reliable indicators because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months. So the honest read is that filings slowed sharply through the tracked window, without assuming the trend continues into years still filling in.
The dataset's IPC composition shows the heaviest concentration in A01H (new plants and plant breeding, 45.1% of the 175 records) and A01N (biocides and agrochemicals, 32.6%), with C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) close behind at 26.9%. Planting and sowing mechanics sit at 22.3%, and pesticide-activity claims at 18.3%. Fertiliser mixtures, horticulture-specific uses and peptide/protein claims are each much thinner, sitting around 8% of records.
US20060150489A1, filed by Incotec Europe B.V. and published in 2006, covers an active-ingredient-containing pellet built around an inert core, along with methods for improving germination of a seed-containing pellet. It is the most-cited record with a US publication in this dataset's citation table, at 77 citations, which signals it has shaped a large amount of later filing in the space. Anyone designing a pellet with an inert core plus active ingredient should check this filing and its family closely, though citation volume reflects influence built up over years, not necessarily current enforceability.
The thinnest-claimed IPC subclasses in this dataset are C05G (fertiliser mixtures), A01G (horticulture and forestry) and C07K (peptides and proteins), each covering only around 8% of the 175 records, compared with 45.1% for the leading subclass. That gap suggests fertiliser-integrated pellet formulations and horticulture-specific coating uses carry less claim density than core breeding and biocide functionality. It is not proof the area is unclaimed entirely, only that it is comparatively less crowded within this search scope.
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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.