Global industrial activity has profoundly impacted the environment, contributing to challenges such as climate change. This report explores these issues and provides insights into how organisations are responding through innovation and investment. In this report we analyse patent data and industry insights as indicators of the ongoing efforts to address and mitigate environmental impacts, in emerging technology areas including Energy, Transport, Food and Materials.

Read more about the key topics below:

Innovation in CRISPR technology yields highest-ever year for patent filings – especially in agriculture
 
Worldwide Innovation in CRISPR technology is at an all-time high according to the latest patent data* reported by Appleyard Lees.
 
And, in agriculture specifically, CRISPR innovation has also reached a new height (122 patent filings in 2022 – a 58% annual increase) following peaks and troughs since its previous high in 2018 (114).
 
The fourth annual edition of the Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report** from the leading intellectual property firm reveals an eight percent increase in patent filings in the year to 2022 (from 1,973 to 2,126). However, the rate of increase has reduced from its pre-pandemic levels, where annual growth in patent applications was often more than double current levels (21% in 2018 and 18% in 2019).
 
Appleyard Lees’ Chris Mason, Partner, said: “Since its discovery there has been a great deal of activity in CRISPR-mediated gene editing across multiple sectors, including agriculture. Indeed, its huge potential means that the market for the technology is predicted to be billions, if not trillions, of US dollars.
 
“However, ongoing disputes about ownership of underlying CRISPR technology – and the resulting availability of licences – will need resolving to help encourage greater innovation in the field.”
 
Industry outpaces academia in innovation
 
Though early patent applications for CRISPR technology were driven by universities, the latest data shows only the University of California retaining a place in the top 10 patent filers.
 
Now, US company Pioneer Hi Bred leads the list with 13 patent applications in 2022 – almost twice its 2021 number – including a transgenic soybean to express increased protein and method to create maize plans with added resistance to northern leaf blight.
 
Monsanto Technology increased its innovation activity significantly (from one patent filing in 2021 to eight the following year) while Syngenta and Pairwise Plant Services also showed growth.
 
Sarah Gibbs, Senior Associate at Appleyard Lees, added: “The US is an attractive jurisdiction for innovation in the field of genetically engineered crops using CRISPR technology – not least because of the Revised Biotechnology Regulations which reduce regulatory burden for developers. The rise in patent applications since 2021 coincides with the introduction of this rule and could explain why the US leads in patent filings using CRISPR in agriculture.
 
“Conversely, the stricter and more complex regulatory process in the EU may account for the comparatively lower number of filings in Europe, though patent activity in increasing steadily.”
 
The Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fourth Edition’s focus on CRISPR technology was chosen because of its prominence in the global green innovation conversation, as referenced in the OECD’s and United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Green Innovation Database, a global innovation catalogue that connects needs for solving environmental or climate change problems with sustainable solutions.
 
*Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fourth Edition, examines patent filing data through 31 Dec 2022, the latest date complete filing data is available from public sources.

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Insect protein innovation fails to take flight after pre-pandemic growth – latest report
 
Global innovation in insect protein had its wings clipped for a second year running according to the latest patent data* reported by Appleyard Lees.
 
The fourth annual edition of the Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report** from the leading intellectual property firm reveals a 1.5% year-on-year fall in global patent applications (from 255 to 251) – though a less steep decline than the previous year’s 13% (from 293 to 255). This contrasts with a patent filing increase of more than a third from 2019-2020.
 
According to the report, possible impediments to increased innovation in the sector include reduced research activity, slower adoption in western diets and lengthy authorisation processes.
 
However, innovation in insect waste (frass) for fertiliser saw patent applications at an all-time high.
 
Appleyard Lees’ James Myatt, Senior Associate, said: “While consumer appetites continue to challenge the adoption of insect-derived protein for human consumption in some regions, insect farming may help to improve the environmental impact of human food systems in other ways. For example, insect protein production promises to reduce the carbon footprint of animal farming by incorporating insect-derived products into animal feeds to displace less sustainable protein sources.”
 
Countries and sectors: South Korea stays ahead of Europe and frass takes flight
 
Bucking the global trend for falling patent applications, South Korea has increased its activity slightly, likely fuelled by the country’s growing interest in meat substitutes. By filing for 102 patents in 2022, South Korea more than doubled the amount of its nearest rival, Europe, with 44. Meanwhile, Russia and Indonesia both recorded all-time highs for new priority applications.
 
The Republic of Korea Rural Development Administration (RDA) was the top filer in the latest data, with patent applications for applications including feed compositions for breeding caterpillar larvae and the treatment of muscular atrophy using mealworm larvae extract.
 
Other notable innovation shown in the latest data focuses on fortifying milk and eggs by including black soldier fly in feed for hens and cattle – seen in patent applications from Feng Xi Hong Healthy Biotechnology Co. – and developing machinery for feeding, breeding and sorting insects; an area explored by both Buehler AG in Switzerland and a Korean farming association.
 
While previously prolific patent filer, Ÿnsect, reduced its activity in 2022, the focus has shifted to scaling up manufacturing with the opening of the company’s “ŸnFarm” in northern France, intended to be the world’s largest vertical farm.
 
But the technology area of insect frass and fertiliser, with patent applications in 2022 ten times higher than in 2018, suggests a drive to improve insect farming.
 
Chris Mason, Partner at Appleyard Lees, added: “Whatever the reason for the overall slowdown in patent filings for insect protein, there appears to plenty of ambition among the sector’s leaders.”
 
The Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fourth Edition’s focus on insect protein was chosen because of its prominence in the global green innovation conversation, as referenced in the OECD’s and United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Green Innovation Database, a global innovation catalogue that connects needs for solving environmental or climate change problems with sustainable solutions.
 
*Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fourth Edition, examines patent filing data through 31 Dec 2022, the latest date complete filing data is available from public sources.

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Plant-based meat innovation persists despite setback – while cultivated meat invention loses momentum: latest report
 
Innovation in plant-based meat remains historically high despite a recent dip in numbers, according to the latest patent data reported by Appleyard Lees.
 
However, cultivated meat technology investment and associated patent activity has recently slowed significantly.
 
The fourth annual edition of the Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report** from the leading intellectual property firm reveals a slight fall (c.7%) in patent filings for plant-based meat technology in 2022, though still reaching the second highest-ever level after 2021 (264 versus 283). This fall in innovation investment comes as sales in the plant-based meat industry declined by 26% in the two years to 2023.
 
Meanwhile, an almost four-fold increase in patent filings for cultivated meat from 2019-2020, and a further increase of more than a fifth to 2021, has shrunk to a three percent uplift in 2022, the latest available data.
 
Appleyard Lees’ Chris Mason, Partner, said: “Plant-based meats offer a potentially more environmentally sustainable alternative to ‘real’ meat but reducing the cost of producing and retailing plant-based meats combined with improving the nutritional profile may be required to reinvigorate the industry.”
 
“And global investment in cultivated meat and seafood companies fell from USD 922.3m in 2022 to USD 225.9m in 2023. The top five cell-based meat manufacturers accounted for 46.9% of all funds raised and this has created a challenging environment for any new start-up firms entering the industry.”
 
Plant-based meat: pea and soy innovation grows in parallel
 
A significant fall in recent sales for plant-based meat may be driven by consumer concerns with processed foods, poor eating experience compared with conventional meats and the 77% price premium by weight. This, along with possible Covid-19 pandemic impact, could be blamed for the blip in patent filings after unbroken growth since 2014.
 
That said, 2022’s second-highest level of innovation for plant-based technologies has seen patent filings for pea protein and soy jointly leading the pack, with wheat in third place and tofu and tempeh showing the only increase in patent applications in the latest data. In terms of the innovation focus, patents aimed at food texture are overtaking those for flavour. 
 
Country-wise, South Korea has held the lead for innovation ahead of the USA, potentially due to the growing popularity of veganism and flexitarianism. Notable companies in the field include Nestle – focusing on protein binders, connective tissue analogues and texture improvements – and Roquette Freres, concentrating on patents for both texture and flavour of pea protein.
 
Cultivated meat: a sector with challenges but an ongoing appetite
 
In the field of cultivated meat technologies, stalled innovation activity may be the result of companies focusing on scaling up production to commercialise their inventions. However, the latest patent filings are seeking to protect applications including equipment and methods to reduce production costs and increase capacity, such as bioreactors and suspension cell culture. These innovations are accompanied by other activity in culture media with additional nutritional components and ingredients, plus ways to mimic actual meat texture, smell and taste in cultured meat.
 
In this area of alternative meat innovation, the USA leads the field by some distance, followed by Europe and South Korea. The US company leading the sector for patent filings, Upside Foods, gained the first regulatory approval for any cultivated meat product in the US in 2022 for cultivated chicken. Patent filings in the UK, which constitute more than 10% of the global total, are coming mainly from Oxford University spin-out, Ivy Farm Technologies.
 
Alice Smart, Associate at Appleyard Lees, added: “There was still significant funding in the plant-based meats industry in 2022, with over one billion USD of investment and a similar amount in governmental research funding announced through 2022 and 2023. This shows that improving plant-based meats is still a topic that both investors and governments see as a potential solution to the problems of environmentally sustainable food production.
 
“In the cultivated meat sector, scaling up is clearly the current focus and the biggest technological obstacle to further development faced by the more established companies in this sector. The desire to create an affordable and sustainable product is driving innovations in high volume methods, accelerated production and ways to make the culturing process more efficient.  This push to scale up will need to move in parallel with progressive regulatory and funding environments to see this industry of high potential move to the next level.”
 
The Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fourth Edition’s focus on alternative meat technologies was chosen because of its prominence in the global green innovation conversation, as referenced in the OECD’s and United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Green Innovation Database, a global innovation catalogue that connects needs for solving environmental or climate change problems with sustainable solutions.
 

**Appleyard Lees’ Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fourth Edition is available to read here.