What is the examination process for plant patent applications?

Plant patent applications undergo the same examination process as other national applications. The MPEP § 1608 states: Plant applications are subject to the same examination process as any other national application. This means that examiners assess plant patent applications for statutory requirements including:

• Patentable subject matter
• Utility
• Novelty
• Non-obviousness
• Disclosure
• Claim specificity

These requirements are outlined in 35 U.S.C. 101, 102, 103, and 112.

To learn more:

• plant patents
• patent examination
• statutory requirements
• novelty
• non-obviousness