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The Patent Garden

US Plant Patent PP19013

Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Red

Ornamental sweetpotato plant named ‘Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Red’

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Patent expired July 10, 2026. This plant is in the public domain — anyone may propagate and sell it.

Twenty years from the filing date would end on March 31, 2026. This patent earned 101 days of term adjustment for delay at the Patent Office, which is why it runs longer.

Figure 1 of US plant patent PP19013, the photograph of Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Red printed in the patent.
Figure 1 from US Plant Patent PP19013, reproduced as printed. Photographs in a plant patent are taken by the applicant. Reproduction of the patent document is permitted; the image is shown whole and uncropped for that reason.

The record

Patent number
PP19013
Filed
March 31, 2006
Granted
July 15, 2008
Expires
July 10, 2026
Assignee
UNIV NORTH CAROLINA STATE
Inventor
YENCHO GEORGE CRAIG; PECOTA KENNETH

Abstract

Ipomoea batatas ‘Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Red’ is a moderately compact cultivar producing many shoots and having dense foliage. This cultivar is distinguishable from other cultivars by its small to medium-sized, heart-shaped, red-purple to red-bronze colored leaves. The plant has good vigor, but is less vigorous than Ipomoea batatas ‘Margarita’ and ‘Blackie’, and unlike these cultivars, ‘Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Red’ may be grown in containers with other species. The production of flowers by ‘Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Red’ is relatively rare even under short day conditions.

Show the legal claimThe single numbered claim as granted — the legal text that defines what this patent covers.

1. A new and distinct cultivar of Ipomoea batatas plant named ‘Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Red’, substantially as illustrated and described herein.

Read the full patent: US Plant Patent PP19013 in full — the complete specification, every figure, and the file history.