Increase in Patent Applications for Home AI Plant Cultivators

Graph of domestic patent application trends related to plant cultivation devices from 2011 to 2020. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] #Mr. A recently became deeply engrossed in the fun of growing lettuce and arugula using a home plant cultivator. Although he tried growing vegetables needed for his weekend farm or purchasing vegetables through early morning delivery, he concluded that the best way to get the desired amount of vegetables when needed is to "grow them at home." These days, he finds unexpected joy in planting seeds and nurturing vegetables.

As more people like Mr. A cultivate plants such as vegetables at home, patent applications related to home-use AI plant cultivators are also on the rise.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office on the 24th, patent applications related to home plant cultivators increased from 161 cases in 2019 to 216 cases (34.2%) last year.

This is interpreted as a result of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic spreading the so-called stay-at-home culture, the rapid growth of the subscription economy, and an increasing number of consumers participating in rational consumption that considers the joy of growing plants and the environment.

In particular, last year, patent applications related to AI control technology stood out with an 80% increase compared to the previous year. The rise in AI control technology appears to reflect the recent trend of the spread of 4th Industrial Revolution technologies.

Images of major domestic businesses and products related to plant cultivators. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

Representative examples include technologies that automatically control the cultivation speed to enable harvesting at the desired time and technologies where inserting a seed capsule allows the device to automatically recognize and provide the optimal cultivation conditions for the seed.

In the distribution of patent applications related to home plant cultivators over the past five years, companies such as LG Electronics (1st), Grow Solution (3rd), SK Magic (4th), Kyowon Co., Ltd. (9th), and national research institutes such as the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, 2nd) and Rural Development Administration (5th) were included in the top 10 applicants with multiple filings.

Regarding the distribution of applicants, the Korean Intellectual Property Office analyzes that technology development related to plant cultivators is currently led by companies and national research institutes, and companies often mentioned as major market players such as LG Electronics, SK Magic, and Kyowon are actively commercializing based on patented technologies.

Yoo Jin-oh, an examiner at the Food and Biological Resources Examination Division of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, "The domestic plant cultivator market is growing as a type of subscription economy where not only the sale of plant cultivators but also regular purchases of seed capsules occur. On the other hand, globally, no company has monopolized patents in the home plant cultivator field to build technological barriers, so the possibility of overseas expansion is high, and it is analyzed that domestic companies could develop this into a new promising industry."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.