Patent documents are underexploited resources—not only for understanding the evolution of agricultural technology but also for assisting governments, companies, and academic institutions in the inventive process. 1 1. Leonidas Aristodemou and Frank Tietze, “Citations as a measure of technological impact: A review of forward citation-based measures,” World Patent Information, June 2018, Volume 53, pp. 39–44. More than 40,000 patents related to agricultural inputs have been granted in the past ten years. We find that a rigorous patent-review process could aid agricultural-input companies in their pursuit of innovation.Agricultural innovation is increasingly important given the need to feed a growing global population—ten billion people by 2050, two billion more than today. 2 2. Craig Hanson et al., Creating a sustainable food future: A menu of solutions to feed nearly 10 billion people by 2050, World Resources Institute, July 2019, wri.org. Worldwide, agricultural production...
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