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The Patent Garden

All US plant patents

Every US plant patent granted since 1931 — 33,396 of them, of which 32,389 record a cultivar name and 14,642 have already expired. Each has its own page with the official expiration date, the record it came from, and the claim.

Coming off patent

Cultivars whose protection ends within the next twelve months.

Already free

Cultivars that have entered the public domain.

When they come off patent

Counted by the official expiration date on each patent, not by filing date plus twenty years.

Count of US plant patents expiring in each decade.
DecadePatents expiring
1940s5
1950s6
1970s1
1980s1
1990s720
2000s2,859
2010s4,773
2020snow9,594
2030s10,686
2040s4,751

A patent expiring frees the plant, not the name. Trademarks renew indefinitely, so check the mark separately before selling under a brand name.