Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Agricultural patents are counted three ways. The first column of table 2.4
is based on U.S. patents granted for crop cultivars through 2007. Three firms
accounted for nearly three-fourths of these patents; these operations are the
three largest seed companies in both the United States and the world. Ninety
percent of these patents were issued for two crops: corn (either inbred parent
lines or hybrids) and soybeans, with cotton a distant third with just over 2
percent of total patents. One midsized U.S. seed firm, Stine Seeds (not listed
separately in the table), held nearly 13 percent of the total soybean cultivar
patents. As might be expected, public or nonprofit institutions held few
cultivar patents.
The second and third columns in the table summarize data from ERS's
Agricultural Biotechnology Intellectual Property (ABIP) database. The ABIP
database includes all agriculturally related biotechnology patents granted
between 1976 and 2000. The data in the second column use a narrow
definition for agricultural biotechnology, namely, patents that pertained
specifically to crops and to the use of “modern” biotechnological techniques
such as genetic engineering, selection with the aid of molecular markers, or
genomics. The data in the third column are based on a broader definition of
agricultural biotechnology, where biotechnology refers to any “use of
organisms or parts of an organism to make or improve products or processes”
in agriculture or food production. Both the narrow and broad patent definitions
include patents issued for crop cultivars (the patents counted in the first
column) through 2000. The Big 6 companies account for nearly two-thirds of
the modern crop biotechnology patents (narrow definition) and one-quarter of
the more broadly defined agricultural biotechnology patents. As with cultivar
patents, the majority of these patents were issued in the names of legacy
companies or subsidiaries. Unlike with cultivar patents, nonprofit institutions
hold a notable minority of these biotechnology patents. Unfortunately,
categorizing biotechnology patents is difficult and subject to error, and data
coverage extends only through the end of the year 2000. Thus, patenting by
more recent entrants may be underreported.
The fourth column presents data on petitions and notifications to USDA/
APHIS on the importation, interstate transport, and environmental releases of
GM seed. The Big 6 firms accounted for 62 percent of these petitions and
notifications, with Monsanto claiming nearly 40 percent of the total.
In this instance, more petitions were recorded in the name of the parent
firm than in the names of legacy companies. Public and nonprofit institutions
accounted for about one-quarter of these petitions.
