Inovação verde por meio de políticas de patentes na indústria de fertilizantes

Abstract

The general objective of this study is to assess whether the search for technological information contained in patent databases can contribute to the research and development of new fertilizers capable of solving the current dependence on the domestic market. The justification for this central investigation lies both in the importance of studying patents as contributors to the research and development of products geared towards sustainability and the environment, as well as the fertilizer product and its fundamental role in the growth of Brazilian agribusiness in Brazil's economy and, especially, for the south of Minas Gerais, known as a leading producer of coffee and sugar cane, as well as a major producer of cotton, rice, potatoes, beans, oranges, cassava, corn and soybeans. As specific objectives, the study seeks to conceptualize green patents and demonstrate their role in innovation, preservation and environmental sustainability; discuss the importance of patent prospecting and the use of patent documents as a source of technological information in relation to the fertilizer product and its importance for Brazilian agribusiness; present a mapping of patent application filings for the fertilizer product as a green technology in the last decade in Brazil; identify the green technologies available in the world that could be introduced in Brazil for the fertilizer industry; evaluate the practice of searching patent databases in fertilizer producing companies in the south of Minas Gerais and, finally, demonstrate the importance of searching for technological information in patent databases for the development of the fertilizer product for agribusiness in Brazil. To this end, the study is based on patent prospecting as a research method. As a result, and in view of the importance of agribusiness for Brazil's economy as opposed to the country's dependence on the need to import this product, the study shows that green patents are of great relevance for innovation, preservation and environmental sustainability in a general context, and for research and development of the fertilizer product, the search for technological information in patent documents proves to be vital given the large volume of data contained and available in these documents, which can be used in Brazil for research and development of new fertilizer formulation alternatives capable of balancing the relationship between growing demand and deficient production of the product in Brazil. The study also highlights the lack of culture on the part of the leading fertilizer companies in the south of Minas Gerais when it comes to researching these databases, which limits and hinders the development of research and innovation.