Patent prosperity

The yearly number of patents issued to Hawaii inventors fell slightly in 2011 but remained at a historically high level thanks to a wave of filings in the information technology and biotech fields.

There were 183 patents awarded to inventors with Hawaii addresses last year, second only to the record 210 patents issued in 2010, according to data from the U.S. Patent Office. Hawaii patent awards have averaged 133 per year over the past decade.

Hawaii inventors produced 45 patents for information technology companies last year, including Apple, Microsoft, International Business Machines and Sony. Some of those patents appear as Hawaii patents only because the inventor moved to Hawaii after applying for the patent while working with a mainland tech company.

About 30 patents were awarded to inventors doing work for Hawaii-based and mainland biotech firms. Nine of those patents went to seed crop companies doing research in Hawaii.

Producers of seed crops make gains in hardiness

Hawaii’s seed crop industry, which includes global leaders Monsanto, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Dow AgroScience, BASF and Syngenta, has made increasing contributions to the state’s agricultural sector and overall economy in recent years. Seed crops produced a record crop value of $247.2 million during the 2010-2011 growing season. The industry produced about 10 million pounds of seeds on 7,100 acres across four islands.

Corn accounts for about 96 percent of seed production, but companies also produce soy, sunflower, wheat and cottonseed, according to the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association. The companies use conventional as well as biotechnology plant breeding methods to grow their seed crops.

Fred Perlak, vice president for research and business operations for Monsanto in Hawaii, was one of eight researchers who received credit on a Monsanto patent for developing an insect-resistant variety of soybeans.

Monsanto, which has been in Hawaii since 1969, employs about 1,000 workers on Oahu, Maui and Molokai, many of whom used to work in the sugar or pineapple industries, Perlak said.

St. Louis-based Monsanto is attracted to Hawaii for a variety of reasons, including the temperate climate that permits crops to be planted and harvested year-round.

"That flexibility is important. It is also a good place for employees to live, and there is good infrastructure," Perlak said. Similar climates could be found overseas, but Monsanto prefers to operate in the United States for a variety of reasons, he added. "That’s a big advantage for us."

Being able to grow up to four corn crops a year in Hawaii is important for Monsanto because it can more quickly develop new strains in a competitive industry, Perlak said. Seed corn makes up from 85 percent to 90 percent of Monsanto’s business in the islands.

"The seed corn industry is highly competitive. Companies are making improvements to varieties every year. It’s kind of like cellphones — nobody would use the same model from five years ago," Perlak said.

Hawaii residents were listed on eight patents for research on seed corn awarded last year to Pioneer Hi-Bred. One of the patents was for work done on developing stronger cornstalks that are less susceptible to being blown over by strong winds. The other seven patents were for work on creating insect-resistant corn plants.

Pioneer Hi-Bred has two research facilities in Hawaii, one in Kunia on Oahu and the other in Wai­mea on Kauai, said Cindy Goldstein, business and community outreach manager. Corn, which is grown at locations on Oahu and Kauai, accounts for about 90 percent of the company’s production.

Pioneer plants corn seeds year-round, but most of the planting is done in October and January, she said. "On any given day we may be planting, pollenating or harvesting."

Hawaii is a desirable location not only because of the flexibility to conduct multiple plantings, but because the temperature is "ideal" for corn pollenation, Goldstein said. "It doesn’t get too hot or too cold for a good pollenation rate. That’s something we look at when we decide where we are going to locate crops."