Staccato Cherry U.S. Plant Patent Invalidated On December 30, 2022, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Washington granted a motion for summary judgment seeking to invalidate U.S. Plant Patent No. 20,551, covering a variety of cherry known as Staccato. Staccato is a sweet cherry variety developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The Canadian government, the owner and assignee of […] Read Post →
Genetically Modified Purple Tomatoes Purple tomatoes developed by Norfolk Plant Sciences in the UK may be coming to grocery stores in the not too distant future. Last month, USDA APHIS announced that, from a plant pest risk perspective, the purple tomato may be safely grown and used in breeding in the US. The purple color of the tomato is […] Read Post →
CRISPR-based RNA editing – Cas7-11 While CRISPR technology is often thought of in terms of editing DNA, there have also been recent exciting advances in RNA editing. Editing RNA offers certain advantages especially when it comes to therapeutic applications – while changing DNA is permanent and can be inherited, RNA is a transient molecule so any effects from such a […] Read Post →
COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program Extended The USPTO recently announced on March 25, 2022 that the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program has been extended for a third time. Requests for prioritized examination filed in qualifying patent applications will now be accepted until midnight on June 30, 2022. The pilot program began accepting requests on July 13, 2020 and was initially limited […] Read Post →
Pluots & Apriums & Plumcots, Oh My! You’ve likely seen them in grocery stores, but what is a pluot anyway? And an aprium? And then how are those different than a plumcot? All of these terms refer to hybrids within the genus Prunus, specifically a plum (Prunus salicina) and an apricot (Prunus armeniaca). Plumcots (which are also called apriplums) are 50/50 hybrids […] Read Post →
Proposed rulemaking to implement WIPO Standard ST.26 Patent applications containing nucleic acid or protein sequences will be required to submit a sequence listing in compliance with the new WIPO Standard ST.26 beginning on January 1, 2022. With the implementation of the new standard coming soon, the USPTO has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to revise the rules of practice for submitting […] Read Post →
Oatly – wow no cow, yes patents Oatly, the Swedish oat milk company, has been in the news recently with their initial public offering occurring just last month. Initially priced at $17, shares jumped to $22 on the first day of trading and have been as high as $29 since (which equates to a market cap of over $17 billion!). In the […] Read Post →
Inherent anticipation – Is the phenotype exhibited by a transgenic plant an inherent feature? A claim is anticipated only if each and every element as set forth in the claim is found, either expressly or inherently described, in a single prior art reference. If a prior art reference expressly sets forth each of the elements of a claim, then there is typically little question of whether or not the […] Read Post →
Deposit of biological material and the differing national laws For patent applications in the biotechnology area, a biological material is sometimes essential for carrying out the invention. The biological material can be any material capable of reproducing itself or being reproduced in a biological system, including bacteria, fungi, algae, eukaryotic cells, cell lines, hybridomas, plasmids, viruses, and plant seeds. If the biological material cannot […] Read Post →
Breakthrough in Protein Structure Prediction Knowing the three-dimensional structure of a particular protein is critical in determining its function and has implications for everything from treating human disease to herbicide resistant plants. Researchers currently use experimental techniques such as x-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, or cryo-electron microscopy to establish the structure. However, these techniques are time consuming and can take […] Read Post →
New Grape Varieties – Raisin Awareness of Plant Patents You may have noticed more options for grapes at your local grocery store in recent years. In addition to the typical red, black, and green grapes that have always been available, there are now unusual shapes and unique flavors including those grapes that that taste like cotton candy! But have you thought about how these […] Read Post →