Digital agriculture encompasses the use of artificial intelligence (AI), distributed IoT sensors, drones and robotics (and other automated equipment and control systems), as well as data analytics for improving the efficiency, productivity, and sustainability of agricultural activity.
Global research and development in digital agriculture is accelerating. Australia, in particular, is making significant investments in this sector. While Australian patent filings in digital agriculture do not yet match those in other major international jurisdictions, the trend is in a similar direction and Australia is well positioned for growth.
Global patent filing trends in digital agriculture
According to the European Patent Office’s 2025 technology insight brief on digital agriculture, digital agriculture technology innovation grew three times faster than the average across all sectors. Indeed, the report notes that in recent years, digital agriculture has shown a growth rate higher than the average of all other technical fields combined.
North America, Europe and Asia are the leading regions for patent filings in this field, with compound annual growth rates ranging from 5.2% to 13.3%. Australia and Oceania, as comparatively smaller jurisdictions, had fewer patent filings and a more modest but still substantial growth rate of 3.3%.1
Australian patent filing trends
The growth in digital agriculture also generally aligns with IP Australia’s 2025 IP report, which indicated that patent filings in the relevant biotechnology field (embracing applications in agricultural technology) shows strong growth of 4.7%, an exception to the slight downhill trend in overall patent filings since 2021.2
Digital agriculture sits at the intersection of computer technology and agriculture, drawing from and contributing to innovation in both domains.
Our own analysis of Australian patent applications in the digital agriculture field, using relevant classification codes, also reveals noticeable growth over the past decade.
The nature of the patent filing process and related classification means data is incomplete for very recent years, in this case for the period 2022 onwards, as applications remain unpublished and pending international applications are yet to enter into the Australian patent system.
There has been a dip in overall filings following a peak in 2021, however it is anticipated that applications in the relevant sector will increase for more recent years as full filing data becomes available.
While the Australian filing activity doesn’t quite rival the numbers in Europe or the United States, the level of local innovation and investment suggests strong commercial potential. Australia will want to keep pace with other jurisdictions in protecting their innovations in this critical industry sector, reflecting the ongoing rise in investment and development activity in digital agriculture.
Support and investment in Australia as an Agriculture 4.0 Hub
Australia is positioning itself as a hub for “Agriculture 4.0”, with more than 2,500 related enterprises and significant investment and support in the sector.3 Digital agriculture will be central to the overall development and innovation within the broader agriculture industry.
In addition to private investment in the sector, the Australian Government, through Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) grants system, has demonstrated commitment to digital agriculture. As discussed in our article here, the AEA committed over AU$14 million of the round 1 “Innovate” grants to the Focus Area of Digital agriculture4, alongside over $AU27 million to the Artificial Intelligence Focus Area, which is likely to drive further digital agricultural innovation in the future.
For those innovating in AI-driven farming, optimisation, sensing technologies, robotics, automation, digital farm management, or other digital agriculture technologies, considering your IP position early is critical.
Here at FPA Patent Attorneys, we have deep knowledge and experience in these technologies (as well as in other areas of agricultural technology such as biochemistry, plant varieties and agrichemicals). If you are interested in protecting your innovations in this space, please get in touch with our Agribusiness team.
1 European Patent Office, Digital Agriculture: Towards Sustainable Food Security (September, 2025) https://epo.org/insight-digital-agriculture.
2 IP Australia, Australian IP Report 2025 https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/tools-and-research/professional-resources/data-research-and-reports/Australian-IP-Report-2025/Chapter-2-Patents/Technology-Fields.
3 https://international.austrade.gov.au/en/do-business-with-australia/sectors/technology/agrifood-tech
4 Australian Government, Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA), AEA Innovate round 1 projects https://www.aea.gov.au/resources/aea-innovate-round-1-projects
