Smart Irrigation Automation Patents: Who Leads, Where Gaps Are 2026
- Filing is accelerating, not maturing. growth from 0 in 2017 to 27 in the most recent year, with the midpoint year (2022) at just 2 filings — the curve is still on its steep part.
- India dominates the filing venue. 52 of 64 records were filed at the Indian receiving office, versus 7 in the US and single digits elsewhere, pointing to a domestic-first filing pattern rather than global PCT strategy.
- No single assignee has pulled away. recent-year momentum is split across several university-affiliated filers at 1-2 filings each, with no assignee yet showing sustained multi-year volume.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 64 patent families filed against a search combining smart, precision, and automated irrigation control terms with specific automation mechanisms — automated valve control, pump scheduling automation, closed-loop automation, and autonomous irrigation — restricted to A01G25/16, G05D7, and G05B19 classification codes. The intersection is narrow by design: it isolates irrigation systems where the automation loop itself, not just the sensor or the crop model, is the claimed invention.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2026 figure understates true filing activity for that year and should be read as a floor, not a ceiling.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 64 families: when the claims were filed, and which classification codes they sit under.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings held near zero through the late 2010s, then rose sharply toward the most recent years, reaching 27 in 2026 against a 2022 midpoint of just 2 — a pattern consistent with a field that only recently became a distinct filing category rather than a subset of general irrigation patents.
IPC subclass composition
Every record carries an A01G horticulture code by construction of the search, but the second-most common code is G06Q (business/commerce data processing, 30 records) followed closely by G05B control systems (26) and G06N AI-based computing (17) — meaning most of these irrigation-automation claims are really being fought over scheduling logic and control-loop architecture, not the physical hardware.
Shares are the percentage of the 64 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Smart Irrigation System Process Automation with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about smart irrigation system process automation and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this space
US20200359582A1 — "Smart irrigation"
A vehicular gesture control system includes sensors such as IoT (internet of things) sensors that can share data with other vehicles and that can communicate with the cloud to provide intelligent handling of the irrigation system.Filed by Tran, Bao; published 2020-11-19. It is the most-cited record in this dataset (48 citations), sitting well ahead of the next-closest family.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20200359582A1 | Smart irrigation | 48 |
| 2 | CN104904569A | 一种基于动态含水量估计的智能灌溉调控系统及方法 | 47 |
| 3 | US10936871B2 | Smart irrigation | 17 |
| 4 | US20240415080A1 | Providing irrigation control via geofencing | 2 |
| 5 | US20240235193A1 | Hydro-power generation for irrigation control | 1 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older filings; a 2024 filing with two citations is not necessarily less significant than a 2016 filing with forty.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Publication numbers are shown where the record carries one (5 of 5 rows); clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three read-throughs from the filing trend, the classification mix, and the citation table.
The category is young and still steepening
With a 2022 midpoint of only 2 filings, essentially all of the volume in this dataset has arrived in the last few years. This is not a maturing field with slowing entry — it is one still in its build phase, which means claim scope in core mechanisms is more open than the raw count of 64 families suggests.
Scheduling and control logic outrank hardware
Nearly half of records also carry a G06Q (business data processing) code and 26 carry G05B (control systems), well ahead of G05D non-electric control variables (7). The center of gravity in this dataset is the decision layer — when to open a valve or run a pump — rather than the physical valve or pump design.
Influence is concentrated in a small number of early filings
The top two cited records (48 and 47 citations) sit far above the rest of the table, where counts drop to single digits. That gap is typical of an emerging field where a handful of early, broad filings get cited repeatedly while newer, more specific filings haven't accumulated citations yet.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to smart irrigation system process automation, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| TRAN HA | TRAN BAO | 2 |
Co-assignee pairing in this dataset is minimal — the single strongest pair appears only twice — indicating that most filings here come from individual inventors or single institutions rather than joint ventures or cross-licensed development.
Who is filing, and where the openings are
Recent-year momentum is thin and distributed rather than concentrated in an incumbent.
Academic filers lead recent activity
SR University shows 2 filings in the latest year with 100% year-on-year growth, matched in raw count by Vellore Institute of Technology and Sona College of Technology, also at 2 each. These are university-affiliated filers rather than agri-tech incumbents, consistent with the field's early, research-driven stage.
Some earlier filers have gone quiet
Rain Bird and Textron Innovations show no filings in the latest year, down from earlier activity (Rain Bird at -100% YoY). Their earlier records remain part of the citation base, but the current filing wave is coming from newer entrants rather than these established names.
Filing activity is concentrated at one office
The Indian receiving office accounts for the large majority of records, with the US, China, WIPO, and EPO together accounting for the remainder. A domestic filing strategy this concentrated suggests most applicants are not yet pursuing broad international protection.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| SR UNIVERSITY | 2 | +100% |
| VELLORE INSITUTE OF TECH | 2 | — |
| SONA COLLEGE OF TECH | 2 | — |
| VEL TECH RANGARAJAN DR SAGUNTHALA R&D INST OF SCI & TECH | 1 | 0% |
| Rain Bird | 0 | -100% |
| Textron Innovations Inc. | 0 | — |
| Lindsay Corporation | 0 | — |
| South China Agricultural University | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The filing data points to an open field with a thin incumbent base — useful for freedom-to-operate scoping and for spotting where a first claim could still stake out ground.
Map claim scope against G06Q and G05B codes
Since most of the contested ground sits in scheduling logic and control architecture rather than physical hardware, a freedom-to-operate review should weight these codes more heavily than the A01G horticulture code alone.
Explore claim scope in EurekaTrack the university filers
Recent momentum is coming from academic institutions rather than established irrigation brands. Watching their follow-on filings over the next few publication cycles will show whether this is a lasting shift or a temporary spike.
Set up assignee tracking in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
This landscape identifies 64 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine smart, precision, or automated irrigation control terms with a specific automation mechanism such as valve control, pump scheduling, or closed-loop control, filtered to the A01G25/16, G05D7, and G05B19 classification codes. This is a narrow, mechanism-specific slice of the much larger general irrigation patent space, so broader searches on irrigation technology alone will return far higher counts. Treat 64 as the count for automated control-loop claims specifically, not for irrigation hardware or sensing in general.
No single company dominates this dataset; recent-year momentum is spread across university-affiliated filers including SR University, Vellore Institute of Technology, and Sona College of Technology, each with modest but growing filing counts. Establishe irrigation brands such as Rain Bird and Textron Innovations appear in the historical record but show no filings in the latest year. This distribution suggests the field is still in an early, research-led phase rather than one led by established agri-tech incumbents.
The filing trend shows growth from 0 in 2017 to 27 in the most recent year, with the 2022 midpoint at just 2 filings, indicating the acceleration is very recent and still underway. This kind of curve typically reflects a technology area crossing from a niche subset of a broader field into its own distinct filing category, often triggered by falling sensor and connectivity costs making closed-loop automation commercially practical. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the true 2026 filing count is likely higher than currently shown.
The IPC composition shows heavy claim density in G06Q (scheduling and business logic, 30 records) and G05B (control systems, 26 records), but comparatively light coverage in areas like geofenced triggering, hydro-power-assisted pump control, and grid-integrated pump scheduling. These narrower branches show up in individual high-value records but have not yet attracted dense follow-on filing, making them candidates for a first-mover claim. A practitioner should verify current filing density in these specific branches before committing to a claim strategy, since this dataset reflects one search window.
Start with the two most-cited records in the dataset, US20200359582A1 and its related family US10936871B2, both titled 'Smart irrigation' and filed by Tran, Bao, which together account for the highest citation counts in this corpus. Also review CN104904569A, a Chinese-filed record on dynamic moisture-based irrigation control with comparable citation weight. High citation counts indicate these records are frequently referenced as prior art, so their claim scope is the most likely to constrain new filings in adjacent mechanisms.
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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.