The attorneys at Sierra IP Law have the experience and expertise needed to help their clients obtain US and non-US patent protection for plants, and have obtained numerous plant patents for their clients over the years. A US plant patent may be obtained by one who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant (other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state).
For example, a grower may notice a difference in a branch on a tree in an orchard (often referred to as a sport, mutation or hybrid) where the branch has one or more characteristics that differ from the rest of the tree - such as early or late harvest, larger crop size, seedless fruit, etc. Or, a grower may notice a seedling that has grown up in an orchard that has one or more unique characteristics in comparison to the other trees in the orchard. If these characteristics can be repeated and shown to be stable by asexual reproduction of plant material taken from the branch or seedling, and other requirements are met, it is often possible to obtain US plant patent protection for the new variety.
In order to obtain a plant patent on a new variety, detailed botanical information must be obtained about the variety to be included in the patent application. For this, the attorneys at Sierra IP Law have developed associations with several professionals, including Dr. Katherine Waselkov, an assistant professor in the Biology Department at California State University, Fresno, who assists as a botanical consultant for plant patent applications. The attorneys and Dr. Waselkov work with grower clients to observe and record the necessary botanical details of the new plant variety for the patent application.
A US plant patent lasts for 20 years from the filing date of the application, and protects the patent owner’s right to exclude others from asexually reproducing the plant, and from using, offering for sale, or selling the plant so reproduced, or any of its parts (including the crop), throughout the United States, or from importing the plant so reproduced, or any part thereof, into the United States.
In many cases it is also possible to obtain US utility patent protection on specific elements of a plants or its tissue that have novel, useful and unobvious features such as proteins, genes or DNA strands, buds, pollen or fruit. The requirements for US utility patents are more rigorous than for US plant patents, but in many cases both types of patent protection may be available for the same new variety.
For sexually reproduced plants (those reproduced from seed), protection under the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) is available. PVPA certificates are issued by the Department of Agriculture, not the Patent Office. A PVPA certificate can provide the owner with 20 years (or 25 years for trees and vines) of exclusive rights to the variety. However, these rights are more limited than those provided by US plant or US utility patents, and there are exemptions and compulsory licensing requirements under the PVPA.
Outside of the US, plant patent protection may be obtained through “Plant Breeder’s Rights” (PBRs). The attorneys at Sierra IP Law have associations in several different countries to assist clients in obtaining PBRs in those countries.
Additional information may be obtained by contacting the attorneys at Sierra IP Law at the link below, and from the United States Patent and Trademark Office web site for plant patents.
Mark Miller’s depth of experience in intellectual property, litigation and business matters is highly valued by his clients.
Mr. Miller is a registered patent attorney, and over the past 30 years has obtained hundreds of patents and trademarks on behalf of his clients from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has also assisted in obtaining scores of patents and trademarks in foreign countries.
Mr. Miller is also an experienced business litigation attorney specializing in patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition and related matters. He has been the instructor for intellectual property law classes at the San Joaquin College of Law since 1993. Mr. Miller is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated with Martindale-Hubbell®. He was selected as a Northern California Super Lawyer in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 – a rating of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
Mr. Miller received a B.S. degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1979, and then worked as a software marketing engineer at Hewlett-Packard Company in Cupertino, California, before attending Santa Clara University School of Law where he received his J.D. in 1984. He was an associate attorney and then a shareholder at the law firm of Kimble, MacMichael & Upton in Fresno, California from 1984 – 2011. He then founded Sierra IP Law®, PC in 2011. Mr. Miller received his J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1984.
As a leading firm in the Central San Joaquin Valley of California specializing in intellectual property law, our clients trust us, and our attorneys, with their sensitive needs and valuable ideas. Sierra IP Law, PC specializes in the procurement, maintenance, and enforcement of intellectual property rights. The primary focus of our firm regards:
To serve you throughout the Central Coast of California, Sierra IP Law, PC, has our main office in Fresno with satellite offices in Bakersfield, Modesto, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Please see our contact page for complete information.
The mission of Sierra IP Law, PC is to help its clients satisfy all aspects of their Intellectual Property needs.