Intellectual Property Insights from Fishman Stewart PLLC
Newsletter – Volume 22, Issue 11
Share on Social
April Showers Bring May Plant Patents
By Melissa M. Chapman
The spring season brings us flower beds full of fresh blooms the likes of tulips and daffodils. In the coming weeks and months, we will see even more flowers come to life and vegetable and fruit plants will begin producing crops. While admiring a flourishing garden, you may have wondered if a plant can be patented. The surprising answer is yes!
The United States Patent and Trademark Office began granting plant patents in the 1930s. A plant patent may be granted to an inventor who created a new variety of plant through asexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction means that the plant is reproduced by means other than through seeds. If granted, a plant patent provides protection for twenty years from the date of filing a patent application, providing the right to exclude others from asexually reproducing the plant, selling or using the plant, and importing the plant into the United States.
The first plant patent was for a rose variety, granted on August 18, 1931. Characterized for its champagne-colored blooms, and climbing and everblooming habit, the “New Dawn Rose” continues to be extremely popular. Though this particular patent has since expired, rose varieties continue to be one of the largest categories of plant patents. In fact, nearly half of all plant patents granted between 1931 and 1970 were for roses, and they continue to make up a large percentage of the granted plant patents today.
One of the most popular plants having a patent is the Hass Avocado. Patented in 1935 by Rudolph Hass, the Hass Avocado was one of the first fruits for which a plant patent was granted. Made from a gardening mistake and descending from a single tree in Rudolph Hass’ front yard, the Hass Avocado is known for its dark green and bumpy skin. It has become the most popular variety of avocado in the U.S. due to its long shelf life and high oil content, accounting for nearly 95% of the domestic avocado market.
In 2016, the patent office granted its first plant patent to a cannabis plant named Ecuadorian Sativa. Since then, only a small number of cannabis plants have been patented. However, with the increased focus on the legalization of cannabis, it should come as no surprise that the number of applications filed for cannabis plant patents continues to grow.
The next time you admire a garden or visit a nursery, you may wonder if the plants you have your eyes on have been granted patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Published May 27, 2022
Pleading and Proving a Trade Secret Case
Related Content from Fishman Stewart
The U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) recently published its latest report on AI and “copyrightability.” In short, the USCO considers only some AI-generated works to be sufficiently creative as to deserve copyright protection, and thus, registration.
We know that as of June 4, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) had issued more than twelve million patents. We also know that more than 10,000 patents were in existence before the count began.
Back in the 1940’s assignments by independent contractors could be permanent and irrevocable. Things changed in 1976, when Congress overhauled the Copyright Act.
Generally, copyright protects the specific expression of ideas, such as the arrangement and presentation of visual elements, but it does not protect general concepts or styles.
In the age of the internet, memes are a universal language. A meme is a piece of content, typically an image, video, text, or a combination of these, that spreads rapidly across the internet, often with humorous, relatable, or satirical undertones.
A White Out: Holiday Cheer for Collegiate Sports Licensing
Fish Tank: Newsletter Volume 24, Issue 29
This holiday season, many will hope it’s a white out, a classic white Christmas, as they unwrap gifts of licensed collegiate apparel. While thanking the givers of those gifts is probably the right thing to do, I’d say thank the White Out.
In 2021, artist Mason Rothschild created a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that depict fuzzy handbags called “MetaBirkins” which he offered for sale on the NFT marketplace OpenSea. In 2022, the French luxury brand Hermès, known for its “Birkin” handbags, filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement and other claims against Rothschild.
In the US, Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. For many, Thanksgiving and (American) football go hand-in-hand, with the Detroit Lions’ game as much a staple of the holiday as turkey and pie. However, this year’s game arrives amid controversy: Lions’ legendary Hall of Famer Barry Sanders is facing a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement.
After three years of litigation, a court has held that the “beat that goes on” for Cher’s right to continue receiving royalties on songs created during her marriage to Sonny Bono, despite attempts by Sonny’s widow, Mary Bono, to invoke federal copyright termination rights to end those payments.
Watching scary movies is a time-honored Halloween tradition, and one of the greatest movies to watch this time of year is “Ghostbusters” which premiered in 1984.
IDENTIFYING, SECURING AND ADVANCING CREATIVITY®
