Q: I think I’ve discovered a new type of Calathea. My Calathea has mutated and reproduced with new patterns and colors.
What are my first steps to patent such a beautiful plant?
A:
Congratulations on your new Calathea! I like those plants.
It may or may not be patentable (depending if you found it in nature or if you've bred it), but you have two options: hire a patent attorney, or do it yourself. If you've never done this before, then you really need to hire a patent attorney.
The first thing that you should do is to put together a business plan on how you are going to make money on this. Figure out your production, distribution channels, exit strategy, margins, EBITDA, promotions, etc. Any patent attorney will be happy to take money from you for doing patent work, but if you can't make it to make money on paper, then you are just going to be wasting your cash on patent attorneys.
A:
Congratulations on your discovery!
Assuming you obtained a new species that does not exists in nature and that you have the means and knowledge to commercialize it, the next step would be to prepare and file a plant patent application which describes and claims the new Calathea plant.
Please contact me if you wish to discuss further.
Liliana Di Nola-Baron, J.D., Ph.D.
Attorney at Law
Di Nola IP
Liliana@dinolaip.com
202-734-0253
A:
Only a subset of patent attorneys work with plant patents. My suggestion would be as a first step is to look at some plant patents so that you understand what sort of information goes into a plant patent.
Next you need to search specifically for someone that handles plant patents as they are not the same as the more common utility patent.
Here is a search to get you started.
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&f=S&l=50&d=PTXT&Query=APT%2F6+
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