Plant Patent Primer A step-by-step guide for protecting your new
plants with a U.S. plant patent. September 13, 2011 These days,
it's hard to flip open the pages of a plant catalog or see a
plant tag without the notation "PPAF" or "USPP#." Most people in
our industry know these notations stand for "Plant Patent
Applied For" and "U.S. Plant Patent No. #." The acronyms
indicate a United States plant patent has been applied for, or
that a U.S. plant patent has been granted. U.S. plant patents
are a great way to protect the intellectual property rights of a
plant, increase a company's royalties and generate revenue, as
well as create an intellectual property portfolio. But a
question remains: What is a U.S. plant patent? A U.S. plant
patent is a property right that protects asexually reproduced
plant varieties, which include many vegetative ornamental
plants, trees, vines and fruit plants. The owner of a U.S. plant
patent has the right for 20 years from the filing of a patent
application to exclude others from ma