A 2011 Home Depot event that exhibited a “Cherry Star” flower was enough to prevent the variety from gaining patent protection, a Federal Circuit panel ruled Thursday.
The court found the expo constituted a prior “public use” that later precluded the ornamental plant’s patent registration. The panel indicated that, had the plant been anything other than decorative, a public viewing might not have undermined its patentability.
“The ‘Cherry Star’ plant on display at the Home Depot event was indisputably identifiable as such,” Judge