Environmentally controlled vertical farming system
Patent US-10306847-B2 — Environmentally controlled vertical farming system
| Patent number | US-10306847-B2 — Granted 2019 |
|---|---|
| Assignee | MJNN LLC |
| Inventors | WHITCHER, John L.|OSLAN, Jack|MAZONSON, Nate|STOREY, NATHANIEL R.|COOK, DANIEL|BEATTY, Philip E.|BARNARD, MATTHEW|CONWAY, Christopher K.|LEARN, Ernest|DUFFY, MICHAEL|VARONE, RUSSELL|FIELD, RUSSELL|GEORGE, WILLIAM R.|JENSEN, Rob|CLARK, BENJAMIN J.|CREECHLEY, Jaremy|MELANI, Matteo |
| Forward citations | 28 |
| Patent family | 9 in 2 countries |
| CPC | A01G, H05B, H04N, Y02P |
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About this patent
This patent covers an environmentally controlled vertical farming system built around individually detachable hydroponic growth modules. Per claim 1, the system requires an environmentally-controlled growing chamber housing a vertical growth column, which itself contains a plurality of vertically aligned hydroponic plant growth modules. The key limitations are that each module contains a growth media, is individually detachable from the column, and incorporates a lateral growth opening so a crop plant can grow outward toward a light source, plus an upper and lower opening that allow an aqueous crop nutrient solution to flow through the module. The abstract adds an airflow source directing air away from the growth opening and a light emitting source positioned to drive lateral growth of gravitropic crops. In plain terms, the claim protects a modular, vertically stacked hydroponic tower where each plant pod can be removed individually, fed nutrient solution top-to-bottom, and grown sideways into the light — the core mechanical and environmental architecture of a high-density indoor farm.
The patent is assigned to MJNN LLC (the entity behind the Plenty vertical-farming venture) and lists an unusually large inventor team of seventeen, headed by Whitcher, Oslan, Mazonson, and Storey. It was granted in 2019. The patent family is moderate at 9 members across 2 countries, indicating focused rather than aggressive international prosecution — protection concentrated in core markets rather than spread broadly. Its 28 forward citations are solid for a 2019 grant in an active niche, signaling the claim has been recognized as relevant prior art by subsequent filers.
Where this patent stands: This is best read as an anchor filing in MJNN's portfolio rather than a niche refinement — it captures the foundational module-and-column architecture on which the company's later patents build. MJNN appears three times in the surrounding result set (the only repeat assignee), and a companion filing, US-11089741-B2 (the vertical grow tower conveyance system), extends the same architecture toward automation, which is consistent with a company building a layered portfolio around a commercial vertical-farm product line. Relative to the field's main players, MJNN is one of several well-defined commercial operators (alongside Freight Farms, Tower Garden, OnePointOne, and others), each staking out a distinct mechanical approach to dense indoor cultivation rather than a single dominant incumbent controlling the space.
Citing patents (28)
Patents that cite this one (forward citations)
US-2024186448-A1 · US-11211538-B1 · US-12041898-B2 · US-11596109-B2 · US-11089741-B2 · US-11469350-B2 · US-11832569-B2 · US-2023109959-A1 · US-11026379-B2 · US-11901487-B2 · US-2022087123-A1 · US-2022000043-A1 · US-12206046-B2 · US-11638402-B2 · US-12008663-B2 · US-2022232785-A1 · US-11877548-B2 · US-11641810-B2 · US-2021137028-A1 · WO-2025010430-A1 · US-11672209-B2 · WO-2022224268-A1 · US-2022138869-A1 · US-2021007300-A1 · US-10506771-B2 · US-12130595-B2 · US-2023168212-A1 · US-11632915-B2
Cited patents (62)
Patents this one cites — its references (backward citations) — showing 61 of 62
US-2009223128-A1 · US-2015313104-A1 · US-7080482-B1 · US-2015173315-A1 · US-8893431-B2 · US-2015000190-A1 · US-6691135-B2 · US-2013152468-A1 · US-8533993-B2 · US-2012311926-A1 · US-6247268-B1 · US-8966815-B1 · US-2015334930-A1 · EP-2491784-A1 · US-5533302-A · US-2014200690-A1 · US-2007251145-A1 · US-2009000189-A1 · US-2014115958-A1 · US-2006162252-A1 · US-2017055474-A1 · US-2010042234-A1 · US-2015005964-A1 · US-7559173-B2 · US-4669217-A · US-2012047801-A1 · US-2014223816-A1 · US-2015264868-A1 · US-3529379-A · US-8266840-B2 · US-9591814-B2 · US-7168206-B2 · US-2013326950-A1 · US-8847514-B1 · US-2015196002-A1 · US-4255897-A · US-7406854-B2 · US-2014000162-A1 · US-5363594-A · US-2015223418-A1 · US-6840008-B1 · US-3254448-A · US-2014165468-A1 · US-4574520-A · WO-2016118175-A1 · US-9226457-B2 · US-2009255179-A1 · US-2011025519-A1 · US-7818917-B2 · US-D758917-S · US-2012137578-A1 · WO-2016070196-A1 · US-2014000163-A1 · US-2015113875-A1 · US-7984586-B2 · US-2244677-A · US-7055282-B2 · US-5617673-A · US-5173079-A · US-2014352211-A1 · US-2016066525-A1
Family members (9)
Related filings for the same invention across jurisdictions.
| Publication | Country | Kind | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US-2018014486-A1 (priority) | US | A1 | 2016 | PENDING |
| US-2018014471-A1 (priority) | US | A1 | 2016 | PENDING |
| US-2018014485-A1 (priority) | US | A1 | 2016 | PENDING |
| WO-2018013161-A1 (priority) | WO | A1 | 2016 | PENDING |
| WO-2018013162-A1 (priority) | WO | A1 | 2016 | PENDING |
| WO-2018013163-A1 (priority) | WO | A1 | 2016 | PENDING |
| US-2021235643-A1 (priority) | US | A1 | 2021 | PENDING |
| US-10973185-B2 (priority) | US | B2 | 2016 | GRANTED |
| US-10306847-B2 (priority) | US | B2 | 2016 | GRANTED |
Patent landscape
The surrounding space is densely clustered but fragmented across many single-patent assignees — no single company dominates by volume, and citation impact is spread thinly across operators. The strongest citation figures belong to Panasonic Corporation (1 patent, 99 citations), Heliospectra AB (1 patent, 72 citations), and Agri-Grow Technologies Inc (1 patent, 70 citations), but each holds only one patent here, underscoring that the field is a crowd of focused individual filings rather than a consolidated landscape. MJNN LLC itself is the only assignee with three patents in the set, making it the most repeat-active player even though its citation impact (30 across three patents) ranks ninth. The technology is tightly concentrated in Horticulture & Forestry (A01G) at 415.8× the corpus baseline — an extreme cluster confirming this is a well-defined, specialized subfield — with secondary concentration in Clean Manufacturing (Y02P) at 49.4× and Climate Adaptation Tech (Y02A) at 45×.
The closest related patents:
- US-11483988-B2 — Vertical farming systems and methods (OnePointOne Inc · 12 citations · 8-member family). A directly competing modular vertical-farm architecture filed later; on-point and a clear contemporary alternative to the MJNN approach.
- US-10034435-B2 — Self-sustaining artificially controllable environment within a storage container (Greentech Agro · 32 citations · 8-member family). Covers the enclosed controlled-environment angle that overlaps with the subject patent's "environmentally-controlled growing chamber" limitation.
- US-11089741-B2 — Vertical grow tower conveyance system for controlled environment agriculture (MJNN LLC · 2 citations · 26-member family). MJNN's own follow-on, adding tower conveyance/automation atop the module-and-column base; its large 26-member family and light citation count make it strategic IP the citation-weighted score under-rewards.
- US-8950112-B2 — Device for a vertical or angled arrangement of hydroponic cultivation (ModuloGreen Vertical Solutions · 19 citations · 33-member family). An earlier, internationally well-protected modular vertical-hydroponic device that is close prior art to the lateral-growth-module concept.
Also notable: US-12201073-B2 (Maui Greens, 2025, 0 citations, 18-member family) and US-11937564-B2 (Heliponix, 2024, 0 citations, 20-member family) are recent, lightly-cited but directly on-point modular grow filings — strategic IP the citation-weighted score under-rewards given publication lag. The assignee mix here is overwhelmingly commercial (companies and LLCs, not universities or institutes), so freedom-to-operate analysis against competing operators matters more than academic licensing in this field.
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