Naturally GM: The development of New Breeding Techniques through patent data analysis

Plant biotechnologies are considered one of the most promising innovation sector in agriculture and during the last decade the development of a new wave of breeding techniques (NBTs) have rapidly emerged, thus changing the scenario of crop improvement. In this article, the structure of patent landscape of NBT agricultural applications have been examined to assess the impacts of this technology, the concentration of the R&D-related activity and the technological competitiveness of the public sector’s contribution, with a specific focus on the European Union.