You prolly know more about it than I do. I just know that it was patented by the govt, at the same time as having no med use.
yeah they did some tricky stuff during that time. I had a friend explain it to me in detail and should have had him type it up for me because i can't remember all the details.
here is some info:
It is a further requirement that the plant can be asexually reproduced.
This means reproduction by means
other than seeds such as grafting, budding, layering or the rooting of cuttings.
A plant patent cannot be obtained for tuber-propagated plants.
If you've found a new plant variety by discovering it in nature, you cannot obtain a patent for it, unless you can asexually reproduce it and prove the variety is stable, uniform and "new".
A patent grants the plant breeder the exclusive right to gain financially from the new variety. It can be by producing and selling the plant, selling the rights to breeding the plant or by receiving royalties from sales made by someone else.
Note: Once someone has duly bought a plant, no royalties are payable on the crop it may produce.
They can also
use the seed for growing another crop without further payment of royalties.
The
lifespan of a plant patent is about 20 years and applications are made through
this line is what saves us: If you've found a new plant variety by discovering it in nature, you cannot obtain a patent for it, unless you can asexually reproduce it and prove the variety is stable, uniform and "new".
Since cannabis has always been around and cannot asexually reproduce a stable strain that means cannabis itself cannot be patented.