Hello, thank you for using the “Ask an Expert” answering system!

In order to get a better idea if the plant will be stable in the environment is to replicate it and see if it will flourish. I suggest you give the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University to receive more guidance and information. Their phone number is: 979.845.5341

In regards to the patent, an application must be filed within 1 year of the time the plant is first described in writing or offered for sale. These plant patents are administered by the Patent Office that falls within the Department of Commerce.

“In order to be considered for a patent the plant must have resulted from cultivation, and may be the result of a sport, mutant or hybrid. The plant must be stable through any of a number of means of asexual propagation such as grafting, budding, cuttings, bulbs, rhizomes, tissue culture, and the like.

Prerequisites for applying for a patent include that the new plant variety:

• Must have been asexually reproduced by applicant;
• Must not have been described in a printed publication more than 1 year prior to the date of application;
• Must have originated through some act of cultivation by the applicant.

The patent application consists of a complete botanical description, including a drawing (or photograph), and an oath of declaration that he applicant is the ‘inventor’ of the new variety. “

The patent application, a list of prerequisites, and other helpful information can be obtained from the Plant Patent Office. The website is: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/plant/index.html

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can assist you further.

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