Plant patents

Plant location Plant maintenance Plant nutrients Plant patents Plants... 

Plants. AsexuaHy reproducing plants, ie, those not propagated by means of seed, also represent a legally recognized class of patentable subject matter under U.S. patent laws. Additionally, the inventor must have discovered and asexuaHy reproduced the plant that is to be the subject of the patent apphcation. Plant patents are assigned a different series of numbers than the majority of patents discussed in the foregoing, such as U.S. Plant Patent No. 3,360 titled "Peach Tree" (7). 

In addition to utiHty patents, some countries pubHsh patent documents under different or less stringent standards for patentabiHty and with shorter patent terms. For example, plant patents cover asexually reproduced plants. Design patents cover the decorative aspects of a product. UtiHty models and petty patents cover products with differences from the prior art that need not meet the nonobviousness standards set for utiHty patents. 

Plant Patents. Plant patents are granted to individuals who have invented or discovered and a sexually reproduced a new and distinct variety of plant. This includes mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings. A plant patent has a total time limit for exclusive use by the inventor of 17 years. 

Only the actual inventor may apply for a patent (utility, design, or plant patent). Once a patent has been obtained, the patent can be sold or mortgaged. Also, the owner of a patent may assign part or all interest in the patent to another individual or a company or other business entity. The owner of a patent may also grant licenses to others (either individuals or business entities) to make, use or sell the invention. 

Separating and recovering components from plants Patent number US6740342 (2004)... 

Plant patents and design patents are separate statutory classes but are not here pertinent. 

Figure 5 DWDC implemented in the pilot plant (patent in process).

Patents These protect designs, asexually produced plants, things, processes and business methods. Pharmaceutical patents typically protect new chemical entities, synthetic processes, formulations and methods of treatment. (Designs, plant patents and business methods are not further discussed.) Protection is obtained by filing and then successfully prosecuting a patent application which discloses the invention. The patent term is typically 20 years from date of the filing. 

The disadvantages shown in Table 1 continue to be areas for research and development, and progress is made everyday toward overcoming these challenges. One example of the amount of research and development in the area of strain development is the number of patents found using Scifinder. In the last 20 yr, approximately 340 bacterial strain patents, 150 yeast strain patents, 1300 plant cell patents, 4300 hybridoma cell patents, and 2700 transgenic plant patents have been issued internationally. The number of journal articles published is phenomenal. 

Pacific Northwest Laboratories Transgenic Plants Patents. http //availabletechnolo-gies.pnl.gov/biomedical/trans.stm 2004. 

Asexually reproduced varieties including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids and newly found seedlings, other than a tuber propagated plant or plant found in an uncultivated state, that is, according to the legislative history, the Irish potato and Jerusalem artichoke varieties, may be protected under the 1930 Plant Patent Act or PPA by a plant patent issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. By judicial interpretation, bacteria are also precluded from protection under the Plant Patent Act. Protection for a 17 year term is provided against the unauthorized asexual reproduction of the plant, or use or sale of the plant. 

In light of Chakrabarty, it appears that section 101 specifically protects man-made life forms at the microorganism and plant level, including plant life itself. However, in the 1930 Plant Patent Act and the 1970 Plant Variety Protection Act, Congress has specifically set forth how and under what conditions plant life covered by these Acts should be protected. Since the plant patent provision was added to the predecessor of section 101, it is clear that Congress intended a "distinct... 

There are a limited number of issued patents and published patent applications relating to the use of recombinant DNA techniques in higher plants or in organisms which infect or otherwise are associated with them. It is expected that with the Hibberd decision, increased use will be made of the utility patent system to obtain coverage for plants per se, despite the alternatives provided by the Plant Patent Act and by the PVPA. 

Especially for wild plants and essentially allogamous plants not ful lling DUS for cultivated varieties (cultivars) and plants where the phytochemical characteristics are more important than the morphological ones, plant patents offer an interesting alternative to plant variety protection (PVP) (Table 3.10). 

In the case of nanotechnology, mask works may be added to this list. If chip layout information is novel in design, it can be proteded to prevent unauthorized copying. The PTO issues three types of patents (a) utility patents for any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof (b) plant patents for any distinct and new variety of plant and (c) design patents for any new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. Note that this chapter focuses solely on U.S. utility patents. 

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