What types of plants are eligible for plant patents?
According to MPEP 1601, plant patents are available for:
- Asexually reproduced plants
- Cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings
The MPEP states: “The patent law provides for the granting of plant patents to anyone who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced any distinct and new variety of plant, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state.” This means that plants discovered in the wild and then cultivated are eligible, but those found and left in an uncultivated state are not.
To learn more: