Apr 1, 2021Farmobile awarded US patent for farm data collection and exchange system
Farmobile LLC in a news release April 1 that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent No. 10,963,825, entitled “Farming Data Collection and Exchange System.”
The patent is directed to a cloud-based farming data collection and exchange system capable of capturing, processing and sharing machine-generated data while being used for farming operations, such as fertilizing, planting, spraying or harvesting. The patented online system includes a relay device installed in the farming vehicle that automatically receives, stores and processes detailed machine and agricultural data captured by the machine during farming operations.
The patented technology enables real-time collection, tracking, monitoring, sharing and monetizing of critically important farming operation data. As described in the patent, this includes activities such as how much seed, fertilizer, water and pesticide were used on a particular field, how often the field was treated with a particular chemical, which parts of the field were left untreated, the weather conditions during the farming operation, the equipment used to perform the farming operation, the equipment settings activated and/or deactivated during the farming operation, and which field was treated during the farming operation. The patent claims priority back to the 2013 patent application filed by co-founders and inventors Jason G. Tatge, Heath Garret Gerlock and Randall Thomas Nuss. The patent expires Sept. 22, 2034.
“This latest patent is similar to a patent we have in Canada. It further strengthens the position of our ag data innovations in the U.S. market and re-affirms our ability to unlock the data farmers need to create more value for their farms and, more broadly, the future of the ag-food ecosystem,” said Farmobile CEO Jason Tatge. “When we’re able to leverage high-integrity data as a system-of-record, we not only empower our customers to make better decisions, we help them find additional revenue-generating opportunities with those data sets. For example, as carbon credits become more of a regulatory focus, our customers will be able to use these interoperable data sets to recoup costs based on the sustainability of their operations.”
In addition to this U.S. patent, Farmobile’s patent portfolio continues to grow. In 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office issued the Canadian Patent No. 3076652 (“Distributed Transaction-Based Security and Tracking of Machine and Agronomic Data”) and, in 2019, the USPTO issued U.S. Patent No. 10,491,608 (“Distributed Transaction-Based Security and Tracking of Agricultural Machine and Agronomic Data”) to Farmobile. These patents granted Farmobile the exclusive right to use blockchain (distributed ledger technologies) in Canada and the United States, respectively, to track electronic agricultural data sets through associated exchange transactions.
“We’ll continue to push the boundaries of how data technology can transform agriculture,” said Chris Schibi, Farmobile’s chief technology officer. “When we speak with farmers, ag retailers, agronomists and other ag-food partners, we are consistently seeking ways to help the industry adopt interoperability standards to improve information sharing and operations across third party aggregation systems. With each new patent, Farmobile helps the industry establish a foundation of high-quality, ground-truthed data.”
Farmobile enables farmers and channel partners to collect, share and monetize data. Data is among the most valuable commodities a farm produces and farmers should benefit from it. The Farmobile DataStore exchange is the first to digitally connect farmers with data buyers.
