Understanding the Patent Process
Hello, this is Tulsa Cannabis Business Attorney Jesse Kovacs with the OK Cannabis Law Office. Today we’re looking at the process for acquiring a patent on a cannabis strain or some other process used in cannabis cultivation. So the first thing you want to do is do a prior art search to make sure that this hasn’t been patented before. That’s one of the requirements of a patent. It’s got to be novel. It can’t be something that’s already out there in the public.
The second thing you’re going to want to do is thoroughly document everything related to the strain or process. So you’re going to want to document the breeding process, the genetic lineage of the plant, the traits of the strain, including its yield, its resistance to pests, and its THC and CBD levels, so on and so forth. The second thing you want to do is determine what kind of patent type you’re going to want to get, either a utility patent or a plant patent. That’s something we go over in another video, the differences between those.
Filing Your Patent Application
The third step in the process is to file your patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. You’re going to draft that. Your patent application is going to include a detailed description of the strain, its unique characteristics, and how it was developed. For utility patents, you’re going to also want to include claims that define the scope of protection, for example, specific genes or methods used for production. You also might want to submit a biological sample of the strain to an approved biological depository like the American Type Culture Collection. That’s required for utility patents.
Finally, you must file the application online and pay the associated fees, and your application will be examined by the USPTO and will either be approved or not approved. If this information was helpful to you and you want to find more like it, you can find more at our website, oklahomamedicalmarijuana.attorney.
Secure Your Patent Today
If you are ready to start the process of acquiring a patent for your cannabis strain or cultivation process, do not hesitate to contact us for a low-cost consultation. Call the Oklahoma medical marijuana lawyer today at 918-932-2879 to schedule an appointment with our experienced attorneys. Let us help you protect your intellectual property and navigate the patent application process successfully.