2. Why Plant Patents?

3. What I am and am not Patent and Trademark Resource Center Librarian at UMass Amherst Science & Engineering Librarian Amateur gardener Northfield Resident / Library Trustee Not a plant biologist Not a patent attorney

4. Today’s Talk I.Patent Basics (with a slight detour into GMO seeds) II.Plant Patents III.How to search for new varieties or see what patented plants are in your garden IV.New Plants coming down the pike

5. I. Patent Basics (very simplified)

6. What is a U.S. Patent? A limited time property right … The right to exclude others … Rights are granted in exchange …

7. Utility PatentsDesign PatentsPlant Patents Machine Process Article of Manufacture Composition of Matter Novel Useful Not Obvious Ornamental design for an article of manufacture Asexual reproduction of any distinct and new variety of plant*

8. U.S. Patent Classification

9. II. Plant Patents (again, very simplified)

10. Reproduction in Plants Sexual ReproductionAsexual Reproduction Stolons (horizontal runners) Rhizomes / Bulbs / Corms / Tubers Grafting / Cutting Spores (nonflowering plants) Seeds

11. The 1985 legal decision known as Ex Parte Hibberd declared that utility patents, available to inventors since 1790, could be applied to plants. A utility patent is often sought for products related to genetic engineering because the utility patent can apply to the method used to engineer a plant, the genetic sequences that are inserted, and the plant that results. The Terminator patent is an example of a utility patent. It claims patent protection for the method used to make Terminator plants as well as the seeds and plants that are made.

12. GMO Plants are Utility Patents

13. GMO Seeds

14. GMO: Micro to Macro

15. Monsanto Patents NowThen

16. Reproduction in Plants Sexual ReproductionAsexual Reproduction Stolons (horizontal runners) Rhizomes / Bulbs / Corms / Tubers Grafting / Cutting Spores (nonflowering plants) Seeds

17. *What is Patentable as a Plant Patent? Distinct and new (novel) variety Cannot be a plant found in an uncultivated state Cannot be for an edible, tuber propagated plant, such as a potato or Jerusalem artichoke

19. American Association of Nurserymen. (1957). Plant patents, common introductory names, 1 through 1542. Washington.

20. III. Searching Plant Patents (again, very simplified)

21. Plant Patents organized by type of plant

22. Shrub or Vine: Hydrangea

23. Class 250: Hydrangea

26. Hydrangea ‘Limelight’

27. Plant Patent Images

28. IV. New Plant Patents

29. New Plant Patents

34. Questions? Paulina Borrego 67 New Plain Road, Northfield, MA Science & Engineering Librarian UMass Amherst Patent & Trademark Resource Librarian UMass Amherst