THE CASE:
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
David A Dillard and
Drew
Wilson discuss the difficulties involved in proving the
heritage of, and rights to, commercial plant mutations
Plant patents allow someone who has isolated and
asexually propagated a unique cultivar of a plant to exclude others
from propagating that same plant. This encourages farmers,
nurseries and those interested in agriculture to invest the
significant amount of time and effort that it takes to isolate
desired traits. These cultivars are often given botanical names to
identify their lineage and fanciful trade names for use in
marketing and advertisements.