Plant patents can bring financial gains to their inventors and the companies that commercialize such intellectual property. Seed companies and plant breeders sell patented “designer plants” through catalogues and in nurseries to homeowners and landscapers.

Tied in first place for the number of plant patents awarded by the USPTO between January 1, 1977, and January 1, 2009, are Yoder Brothers (a.k.a. Aris Horticulture) and Paul Ecke Ranch, at 958 patents each. Bear Creek Gardens owns 282 patents. Ball has 225. To see the full ranking, go to www.uspto.gov/go/taf/plant.htm#PartB.

Even the Queen of England has patents. She owns two patents for ash trees, applied for through the Canadian Department of Agriculture.

There are some 3,400 species of trees, shrubs, and bushes in the rose family. A USPTO search reveals over 2,000 patents on roses. Here’s how a patent abstract reads, in part, for a bush in the rose family (not an actual rose!) invented by David Austin. It is Plant Patent No. 11,211, Physocarpus opulifolius CV “monlo”—a new and distinct selection of Ninebark that offers a unique combination of an outstanding cold-hardy shrub with intense foliage color throughout the seasons, peaking in summer to a maroon red and contrasting with the creamy-white flowers.

Spring Meadow Nursery, holder of more than 50 plant patents, awarded from 1998 to 2009, shows in a catalog when a royalty is paid. For example, write-up for Physocarpus opulifolius “Monlo” (PP11211) states that 57¢ of the price is royalty. This plant was developed by Kordes Nursery and introduced by Monrovia Nursery. The same catalog lists a 30¢ royalty on each sale of “Abelia confetti” (PP8472), and so forth. This is the first time I’ve ever seen an inventor royalty broken out and shown as part of the price in a public document.

Forgene, Inc., received a patent on a white spruce tree that can grow at twice the normal rate. Neil Nelson, inventor of the Super Tree, as it’s called, said the patent marks the first time in U.S. patent history that the USPTO has awarded a general patent for a tree.

Other trees have been given patent protection as plant patents, but until the Nelson patent, the USPTO had never issued a general patent on a tree. “This patent was issued in recognition of the milestone genetic improvement incorporated in these hybrid trees,” said Nelson.