Plantagon announces its 40th approved patent

Developing and expanding the Intellectual Property Portfolio is an important corporate strategy for the Sweden based innovation company Plantagon International, with recent patents granted in the US, China and Australia.

"R&D and the resulting technological innovations are the principal factors for Plantagon International’s business success. Plantagon International’s innovation strategy involves benefiting from technological innovations by using the full range of intellectual property rights in the development of urban agriculture”, says Owe Petersson, CEO of Plantagon.

The company’s most recent patents are: in the USA: Methods and arrangements for growing plants; in China: The uPot; and in Australia: Building for cultivating crops in trays. There are still 28 pending patents.

"It is with great pleasure I follow the progress of the Plantagon Intellectual Property Portfolio. Pending patents get granted without major objections from local patent authorities. This means our inventions have inventive step, novelty and usefulness", says Joakim Rytterborn, Research & Development Manager at Plantagon.

Four patent families

Plantagon currently has filed for patents within four patent families:

1. Conveying system, tower structure with conveying system, and method for conveying containers with a conveying system
2. Building for cultivating crops in trays, with conveying system for moving the trays
3. Method and arrangement for growing plants
4. Pot device and method related thereto

Asia

Last year Singapore, as the first country, granted a patent from Plantagon’s fourth patent family, the uPot, and this year this patent for the uPot was granted in China. The uPot solves the problem with spacing the plants during growth. This by an adjustable distance ring, which enables spacing in two dimensions and hence is about 20 percent more effective than other methods on the market.

Africa

Recently Plantagon also was granted its first ARIPO Patent (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization). Regarding this Mats Lundberg CEO of Sweden’s oldest IP-firm Groth says:

“Plantagon is a company in the very forefront in terms of both innovation and IP. This recently granted patent is further evidence of this. Africa, for example, is a continent often overlooked when companies strive for global IP protection. But it is an emerging market important to consider. Also, thanks to the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization, ARIPO, foreign companies can now apply for a unified patent in a cost-efficient way in 19 African states.”

"Plantagon started with an idea from a Swedish gardener. If you have any great ideas that will make the world a better place, join Plantagon and develop them together with us,” says Joakim Rytterborn.

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Plantagon International is a world-leading pioneer within the field agritechture and social entrepreneurship – combining urban agriculture, innovative technical solutions and architecture – to meet the demand for efficient food production within cities; adding a more democratic and inclusive governance model. We see global corporate governance, food security and sustainable food production as among the most critical areas for the future of our planet. Plantagon’s objective is to inspire a value change for survival and meet the rising demand for locally grown food in cities around the world, minimizing the use of transportation, land, energy and water. www.plantagon.com & www.plantagon.org