An inventor is any person who contributed to either step of invention. For example, if you discovered a new and distinct plant and asexually reproduce it, you would be a sole inventor. If you discovered or selected a new and distinct plant, and a second person asexually reproduced the plant and ascertained that the clones of the plant were identical to the original plant in every distinguishing characteristic, the second person would properly be considered your co-inventor. If either step is performed by a staff, every member of the staff who performed or contributed to the performance of either step could properly be considered a co-inventor. Thus, a plant patent may have many inventors.

However, if you direct that the asexual reproduction be performed by a custom propagation service or tissue culture enterprise, those performing the service for you would not be considered co-inventors.