U.S. Patent No. PP29,723 P3 (‘723) issued on October 2, 2018, for “X Mangave Plant Named ‘Catch a Wave’.” It was issued to inventor/applicant Hans A. Hansen of Zeeland, Michigan. The assignee is Walters Gardens Inc. of Zeeland, Michigan, a perennial wholesale company. This is a plant patent under 35 U.S.C. §161, which protects new and distinct cultivars of plants. According to the specification, the Latin name is hybrid; x Mangave times Agave, and the varietal denomination is ‘Catch a Wave’ (MPEP 1601).
Figure 1 below illustrates the plant ‘Catch a Wave’.
For plant patents, the utility requirement under 35 U.S.C. §101 is replaced with distinctiveness, and the ‘723 patent’s distinctiveness over the prior art as described in the specification is shown as:
- Compact mound of thick, lanceolate, coarsely sinnuate foliage, folded to concaved;
- Bluish-green foliage develops heavy, irregular, greyed-purple spots with strong ultra-violet light;
- Teeth on leaves that are soft and very flexible;
- Moderate to rapid growth rate.
All plant patents have a 20 year term, and the ‘723 patent expires on September 19, 2037 (MPEP 2701).
The Cooperative Patent Classification is A01H (new plants or processes for obtaining them; plant reproduction by tissue culture techniques).
Plant patents are a unique type of patents issued by the USPTO, although only a very small number (about 1%) are actually issued each year. Keep in mind the plants not only must be distinct, but also new, which means they must invented (i.e., man-made or genetically modified), and asexually reproducible (i.e., not through seed propagation). Plant patents represent a facsinating area under U.S. patent law.
Please contact Yonaxis for more information on plant patents, or patents in general, if you have any questions.