Market Context — Why This Technology, Why Now

The global agricultural sector faces increasing pressure to enhance food production sustainably while minimizing environmental impact. Regulatory bodies worldwide are tightening restrictions on pesticide use, pushing for integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. Concurrently, labor shortages in farming demand automated solutions. This technology directly addresses these trends by enabling precise, data-driven pest control, reducing chemical reliance, and improving operational efficiency.

Key Competitive Advantages
01

Efficiently captures aquatic arthropods: Floating design, hollow structure, and side openings effectively attract and capture arthropods inhabiting water surfaces and wetland plants, potentially doubling capture efficiency compared to manual observation.

02

Contributes to environmental impact reduction: Supports precision agriculture by accurately identifying pest outbreaks, preventing excessive pesticide use, and potentially reducing environmental impact by up to 30%.

03

Simplifies operation and data utilization: Easily deployed and retrieved from water surfaces due to floating material. Captured arthropods on the adhesive surface are readily integrated with automated classification and counting systems (e.g., image analysis), potentially halving operational time.

Market Opportunity
Smart Agriculture & Precision Farming
$1.0B–$2.0B globally (AI est.)
As data-driven agriculture advances, precise pest monitoring and management become essential for optimizing crop yields and resource allocation.
Large-scale agricultural corporations Smart farming solution providers Agricultural technology integrators
Sustainable & Eco-Friendly Agriculture
$0.5B–$1.5B globally (AI est.)
Increasing demand for reduced pesticide use and ecological consideration drives investment in sustainable agricultural technologies.
Organic farming cooperatives Agri-food companies with sustainability goals Environmental consulting firms for agriculture
Agricultural Research & Education
$0.25B–$0.75B globally (AI est.)
Efficient and accurate capture and classification tools are consistently required for new pest ecology research and student practical training.
University agricultural departments Government research institutes Private agricultural R&D centers
IP Defensibility — Why Competitors Can't Replicate This
What This Patent Covers

This patent protects the structural features of an arthropod trap, including its hollow body, side openings, adhesive trapping surface, and floating mechanism, along with the specific trapping method. The robust claims, which successfully overcame examiner objections, indicate a strong and difficult-to-invalidate scope of protection, providing licensees with a stable foundation and competitive advantage.

Competitive White Space

This patent primarily covers the physical trap and capture method. Licensees could develop additional IP in areas such as AI-driven automated species identification, real-time IoT data transmission from traps, or novel bio-attractants for enhanced specificity.

Economic Impact
~$100K/year estimated cost reduction per facility (est.)
estimated ROI · USD · AI analysis
ROI Calculation Logic

For an agricultural enterprise managing 100 hectares of rice paddies, conventional pest monitoring via manual observation or general-purpose traps could incur annual labor costs of ~$50K (AI est.) for 2,000 hours (2 workers × 1,000 hours/year at ~$25/hour (AI est.)), plus ~$50K (AI est.) for additional pesticide application due to inaccurate data. Implementing this technology could reduce monitoring time by 50% (saving ~$25K (AI est.)) and optimize pesticide application by 50% (saving ~$50K (AI est.)). Additionally, early detection could prevent yield losses, estimated at ~$50K/year (AI est.). This totals an estimated annual economic impact of ~$100K (AI est.).

Speed to Market
6× faster than in-house development
This technology features a simple, established structure that leverages existing floating and adhesive sheet technologies, significantly shortening development timelines. The patented design can be manufactured using common materials and processing techniques, eliminating the need for new elemental technology development. With a proven concept and straightforward field trial design, licensees can achieve rapid market entry with minimal customization and validation, potentially reducing time-to-market by approximately 2.5 years compared to in-house R&D.
Competitive Positioning

X: Detection Accuracy & Labor Efficiency
Y: Environmental Adaptability & Operational Cost Advantage

Business Models & Applications
🛍️ 🛍️ Product Sales Model
Directly sell trap units to agricultural corporations and research institutions, ensuring recurring revenue through the provision of consumable adhesive sheets.
📊 📊 Data Service Model
Offer a subscription service for pest outbreak prediction and pesticide application optimization by combining captured data with AI analysis, differentiating through high-value information.
🤝 🤝 Licensing Model
License the patent to agricultural machinery manufacturers and smart farming solution providers, supporting product line expansion and accelerating broad market penetration.
Adjacent Application Opportunities
🏞️ 環境モニタリング
Invasive Species Monitoring Trap
This technology could be repurposed for early detection and population surveys of specific invasive insects and small arthropods in rivers, lakes, and wetlands. It has the potential to detect initial invasions, often difficult with traditional visual surveys, contributing to ecosystem protection.
🧪 衛生害虫管理
Urban Pest Smart Trap
Applicable for identifying breeding grounds and managing populations of urban pests (e.g., mosquitoes, flies) in areas like sewers and urban water bodies. Integration with IoT sensors could enable real-time data collection and analysis, facilitating effective eradication strategies.
🐟 養殖業支援
Aquaculture Pest Early Detection System
Could be used as a trap for early detection of aquatic arthropods harmful to fish and shellfish in closed-recirculation aquaculture systems or outdoor ponds. Combined with water quality data, it could contribute to maintaining healthy aquaculture environments.
Integration Roadmap — Estimated 12-Month Deployment
Technology Validation & Prototype Development
Duration: 3 months
Select trap materials, establish manufacturing processes, and verify capture efficiency in small-scale environments to confirm fundamental technical feasibility.
Field Trials & Data Collection System Setup
Duration: 6 months
Conduct field tests in actual rice paddy environments and validate integration with automated data collection and analysis systems (e.g., image recognition) to confirm practical utility.
Mass Production & Market Launch Preparation
Duration: 3 months
Establish partnerships with manufacturing partners, initiate initial batch production, build sales channels, and prepare operational manuals for licensees to facilitate market entry.
Technical Feasibility
This trap features a simple design comprising a hollow structure with a base, roof, sides, an adhesive area, and floating material, making it manufacturable with common resin molding and waterproofing techniques. The patent claims clearly define these elements, facilitating integration into existing production lines or outsourcing to suppliers. As it requires no power or complex electronics, licensees could transition rapidly from prototyping to mass production without significant capital investment.
Success Scenario
Upon adopting this technology, agricultural operations could replace extensive manual pest monitoring by skilled workers in rice paddies with simple trap deployment, retrieval, and data analysis. This could reduce annual labor time by up to 50%, leading to significant labor cost savings. Furthermore, optimizing pesticide application plans based on high-precision data could reduce pesticide use by 30%, lowering environmental impact while maintaining or improving yields.
Patent Record
APPLICATION NO.
特願2021-165466
REGISTRATION NO.
7576329
FILING DATE
2021/10/07
GRANT DATE
2024/10/23
EXPIRATION DATE
2041/10/07
PATENT HOLDER
国立研究開発法人農業・食品産業技術総合研究機構
Examination History
2024年05月22日
早期審査に関する事情説明書
2024年05月22日
出願審査請求書
2024年06月11日
早期審査に関する通知書
2024年07月09日
拒絶理由通知書
2024年08月29日
手続補正書（自発・内容）
2024年08月29日
意見書
2024年09月17日
特許査定