US Plant Patent PP16616
WHIT VIII
Crapemyrtle plant named ‘WHIT VIII’
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Patent expired May 5, 2025. This plant is in the public domain — anyone may propagate and sell it.
Twenty years from the filing date would end on January 25, 2025. This patent earned 100 days of term adjustment for delay at the Patent Office, which is why it runs longer.

The record
- Patent number
- PP16616
- Filed
- January 25, 2005
- Granted
- June 6, 2006
- Expires
- May 5, 2025
- Assignee
- LACEBARK INC
- Inventor
- WHITCOMB CARL E
Abstract
A new and distinct variety of crapemyrtle, Lagerstroemia indica, particularly distinguished by having a near constant flower show during the growing season from new flower buds that form in the same positions as flowers that age and fall away. The flowers are soft pink and the flower buds are green to purple. Inflorescences are between about 4 and about 20 inches tall and between about 4 and about 16 inches wide. The crapemyrtle is further characterized by an upright growth habit and leathery leaves that emerge glossy purple and change to dark green.
Show the legal claimThe single numbered claim as granted — the legal text that defines what this patent covers.
1. A new and distinct variety of crapemyrtle plant, substantially as illustrated and described.
Read the full patent: US Plant Patent PP16616 in full — the complete specification, every figure, and the file history.