Having a name doesn't inevitably mean it is patented though. I checked the USPTO and there are only eight patented Japanese maples. It would have to have something different about it to be worth propagating and selling, which would be a slow process given their typical growth rate. There are more than 700 cultivars of Japanese maple in circulation according to an article in Fine Gardening, so that means 692+ that have names but are not patented. Some would be easy to distinguish from Bruce's plant, like the purple dissected leaf ones but others not so much.
