• Are microalgae a candidate for bio-oil production?
  • Due to their high lipid content and rapid development rates, microalgae, a varied collection of microscopic photosynthetic organisms, have emerged as a candidate for bio-oil production (Wang et al., 2022). Compared to conventional oil crops like soybeans and corn, microalgae provide a number of benefits.
  • How to find microalgae Agricultural patents?
  • To start our analysis on microalgae agricultural patents, the search was applied to three different databases, such as Espacenet (European Patent Office searching engine), Patenscope (World Intellectual Property Organization database) and INPI (Brazilian National Institute for Industrial Property) from August 2020 to December 2020.
  • Does microalgae co-pyrolysis increase aromatics production and biofuel yield?
  • Microalgae co-pyrolysis with other compounds has been found to increase aromatics production and biofuel yield (Wang et al., 2016). Varsha et al. (2021) studied the co-pyrolysis of microalgae, solid waste as well as a mixture of both. The investigation showed microalgae was resistant to thermal heat while solid waste was more sensitive.
  • When was microalga patented?
  • The first patent was registered in 1982 in Japan and described the use of microalga Chlorella extract as a plant growth promoter due to its effect on hormone biosynthesis as auxin and gibberellin (Naohiko 1982 ).
  • How many microalgae patents are there?
  • The search was carried out using the keyword ¡°microalgae¡± and applying the filter for International Patent Classification (IPC) code ¡°A01N¡± which corresponds to patents related to agriculture and cultivation of microalgae. Our patent database search returned 669 documents and 132 patents were selected for the study based on their abstracts.
  • Why are microalgae patents increasing?
  • The increase in microalgae patents in the agricultural area indicates a market shift towards organic food products and increasing costumer concern for sustainable agriculture. The consumption of organic foods has rapidly expanded over the last two decades, therefore the areas used for organic farming are also increasing.