NITROGENOUS FERTILISERS

Description

C05C covers nitrogenous fertiliser compositions and their manufacturing processes. This subclass includes ammonia-based fertilisers, nitrate salts, urea compounds, ammonium salts, and complex fertilisers containing nitrogen as a primary nutrient. Manufacturing methods for nitrogen fertilisation products, such as the synthesis of ammonia, nitric acid production, and granulation or prilling of nitrogen-containing compounds, fall within this classification. Adjacent subclasses C05A and C05B address organic fertilisers and phosphatic/potassic fertilisers respectively, while C05F and C05G cover compound fertilisers and methods not specific to single nutrient types.

Filing statistics

CPC subclass C05C recorded 18,890 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings grew from 603 in 2013 to 834 in 2023 (+38%), peaking at 3,406 applications in 2016. The most active applicants in class C05 are CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (654 applications), BASF (BADISCHE ANILIN & SODA FABRIK) (452 applications) and YARA INTERNATIONAL (434 applications).

Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings