Flower Breeder Sues Rival Over Look-Alike Patterned Petunias

German ornamental plant breeder Selecta Klemm GmbH Co. sued rival Westhoff Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH for allegedly knocking off Selecta’s blockbuster proprietary breed of petunias with a line of similarly speckled flowers it claims to have developed on its own.

Petunias are prolific, low-growing, brightly colored ornamental flowering plants that are among the most important commercial plants grown specifically for aesthetic purposes, according to a patent-infringement complaint filed Monday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Selecta developed and patented its “highly distinctive” petunias with spotted petals about seven years ago, building on decades of horticultural research, according ...