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Title says most of it, I'm looking for some plant patents to see if my cultivar is patented, and if not if I can patent and sell it myself. This is my first time trying to search this, so I'm hoping there are some tips or tools that can help speed my work. Right now I'm looking in google patents, and I can find similar ones, but as soon as I try to define some other traits it narrows it a lot and I don't find things similar enough to my plant.

Maybe mine isn't patented, but I doubt that so I want to verify it a bit more, as well as verify the integrity of my search.

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  • A comment rather than an answer because this is just a pointer to a resources. All patents are put into classes and most search engines (google patents not directly) have a field for class/subclass. If you can home in on a few classes you can look at everything in the class. The data for the hierarchical U.S. plant classes is at uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/uspcplt/schedplt.htm I did not see a way to use plant class in either Google patents advanced or The Lens. It works at the USPTO patent search site but that has other problems.
    – George White ♦
    Jun 24, 2022 at 2:47
  • An example is PPT 150 An example is PPT150 150 Light to medium red: This subclass is indented under subclass 141. Floribunda or polyantha rose characterized by blooms which range from a light to a medium shade of red (a color ranging from that of blood to that of a ruby), as typified by U.S. plant patent Nos. 9032, 8743, and 8634.
    – George White ♦
    Jun 24, 2022 at 2:48
  • @GeorgeWhite I think your two comments make quite a good answer. Perhaps you might post as such.
    – Eric S ♦
    Jun 24, 2022 at 13:18
  • I'm trying to find more helpful information and have a question in to Lens on the subject.
    – George White ♦
    Jun 24, 2022 at 17:57

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Most patent search sites do a poor job of presenting plant patents. The University of Maryland has a site specifically for searching US plant patents with color pictures and classification searchers. Unfortunatetly it doesn't seem to have been updated in several years.

NC State has information on plant patents but most links are back to the USPTO.

Another non-comprehensive site is at the NYC library https://www.nypl.org/node/316959. Only goes to 2018.

At the University of Maryland site You can input terms like "rose" "red" and "nut" but a better way to search is by classification. The plant classes are listed in a hierarchical manner at the USPTO. You can contract and expand the subclasses. The top level is -

  • Class PLT PLANTS

101 ROSE

152 NUT (INCLUDING ORNAMENTAL VARIETY)

156 FRUIT (INCLUDING ORNAMENTAL VARIETY)

213 CONIFER

216 BROADLEAF TREE

226 SHRUB OR VINE

258 COMMERCIAL HERBACEOUS VEGETABLE OR HERB PLANT

263.1 HERBACEOUS ORNAMNENTAL FLOWERING PLANT (NICOTINIA, NASTURTIUM, ETC.)

373 HERBACEOUS ORNAMENTAL FOLIAGE PLANT

As an example PLT/106 is -

106 Salmon: This subclass is indented under subclass 102. Shrub rose characterized by blossoms which are salmon (a color which is reddish red-yellow, of medium saturation and high brilliance), as typified by U.S. plant patent No. 7312.

It is under 102 which are shrubs under 150 which are roses. So 106 are salmon colored rose scrubs.

There are only 17 total patents in class 106. The most recent is PP33,152 Rosa plant named RUIRI0091A issued in June 2021.

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