Climate change is evolving at both a speed and magnitude that necessitates oil palm adaptation through innovation. This study both tracks and synthesises climate change adaptation patents applicable to oil palm cultivation. Oil palm patent applications filed between 1960 and 2022 were analysed through a network analysis, and compared to patents applied for soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower sectors. Findings indicate that the existing pool of oilseed adaptation patents is small. Oil palm adaptation patents primarily focus on and are concentrated on novel process innovation in plant breeding and biomass recycling techniques. Soybean patents cover both modern plant breeding technologies and plant varieties. By comparison, patent references to oil palm adaptation patents are fewer in number. These findings reveal a mismatch between oil palm adaptation requirements and technological availability knowledge. The oil palm research and development community are encouraged to better secure and disseminate intellectual property (IP) rights in order to inform adaptation diffusion and planning.