Skip to content
The Patent Garden

US Plant Patent PP18516

Covington

Sweetpotato plant named ‘Covington’

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Patent expired May 9, 2026. This plant is in the public domain — anyone may propagate and sell it.

Twenty years from the filing date would end on September 13, 2025. This patent earned 238 days of term adjustment for delay at the Patent Office, which is why it runs longer.

Figure 1 of US plant patent PP18516, the photograph of Covington printed in the patent.
Figure 1 from US Plant Patent PP18516, 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
PP18516
Filed
September 13, 2005
Granted
February 26, 2008
Expires
May 9, 2026
Assignee
UNIV NORTH CAROLINA STATE
Inventor
YENCHO G CRAIG; PECOTA KENNETH

Abstract

Ipomoea batatas ‘Covington’ is an orange-fleshed, smooth-skinned, rose-colored, table stock sweetpotato. ‘Covington’ produces yields equal to ‘Beauregard’, the dominant sweetpotato variety produced in the United States, but it is 5-10 days later in maturity. The storage roots of ‘Covington’ are generally shorter and more uniformly shaped and fewer “jumbos” are produced as compared with ‘Beauregard’, resulting in higher “pack-out” by sweetpotato packers. The dry matter content of ‘Covington’ storage roots is slightly higher than that of ‘Beauregard’. ‘Covington’ is also resistant to the russet crack strain of sweetpotato feathery mottle virus, moderately resistant to southern root knot nematode, and appears to be less sensitive genotype by environmental interactions (measured as an improved overall appearance score, and the percentage of culls and off-types present at harvest), all of which are considered to be major flaws in the variety ‘Beauregard’. The flavor of the baked storage roots of ‘Covington’ has been judged to be excellent by standardized and informal taste panels. ‘Covington’ typically scores better in this regard when compared with ‘Beauregard’.

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 ‘Covington’ substantially as illustrated and described herein.

Read the full patent: US Plant Patent PP18516 in full — the complete specification, every figure, and the file history.