You can usually find them on Google Patents, or take the easy way out and look them up on Help Me Find. If it's known, it's likely there. Kim

If you go the HelpMeFind route, you will need to actually click on the Patent Information and check the date that the patent was granted, since it is seldom noted when a patent expires (20 years after being issued for US Patents)

I use a two-prong method to determine if a rose is currently under patent protection; first, look up the rose on HMFR. In this example let's use the beautiful red rose "Taboo". ON HMFR we can see that the registered name of this rose is "TANelorak". Now, go to the US patent database (link attached) and type the registered name into the search area titled "term1" and hit the search button. You can see that the patent was given for this plant on 10/1/91, but the important information is the date filed, which here was 6/1/1990. The patent, once approved, is good for 20 years from the date filed, not approved, so this rose was out of patent on 6/2/2010. Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: US patent Database

mgleason56

You can look up the US Patent on the rose page of 'Taboo' on HMF. Just click the VIEW THE USPTO PATENT button. It will take you directly to the patent in the US Patent Database. This is true for most patents issued after 1972. You need to use a program like "Quickview" to read the earlier patents because the patent office has not made them easy to view without a different program than most of us use.

Smiles,
Lyn

Lyn,

Thanks. I did not know how up-to-date that was, but after looking up a bunch, it looks pretty darn accurate.

It has to be accurate ... it's tied directly to the USPTO database. Now you can skip the Google search ... lol.

btw .. if you do find a patent for a rose where we don't have the link to the USPTO, you can send me a PM on HMF (user name = Lyn G) and I'll add it. I would greatly appreciate it if you include the Google link so that I don't have to do a search. It's faster that way.

No, I have not updated all of the rose pages with the patent information since we added this feature. I do some every night, but there are a lot of rose pages that need to be updated, but I am working on it.

Smiles,
Lyn

You guys are the best, Lyn, thanks!

I also have something of a question about patents--maybe I should post it under its own seperate heading but I'll try here first. If a rose is less than 20 years old but there is not patent listed on either HMF or at the place the rose was purchased, does that mean it is pretty certain that it doesn't have one? Could the person who bred the rose apply for a patent later, or does it have to be applied for as soon as it enters the market? Is it considered gouche or rude to propogate roses that are less than 20 years old even if they don't have patents? To be specific, my Blessed Child rose has outgrown its container and I am giving it a home with someone else (a midwife in fact--I thought she would appreciate the meaning of this rose). Since it is one of my favorite roses, and since my attempts at propagation approach 50% success rate this year (as opposed to last year when it was more 10%), I'm going to try to take a couple of cuttings before planting it in her yard. Also, Blessed Child is trademarked--since I'm giving it away instead of selling it, am I free to call both the one I give away and the one I (hopefully) propogate by that name as long as I don't sell it? Thanks!

I would look up to see if there is a breeder's code name, like the TANelorak for Taboo and search for that as it is the name the rose is known by internationally, in every market. If you find no evidence on HMF and doing a Google search for the patent, I would feel comfortable there is no patent. I believe a patent has to be obtained within a year of introduction.

No, it is not gouche to propagate an unpatented rose, no matter how new or old. Don't worry about the trademark. Unless you are propagating the rose for commercial sale, it isn't an issue. In those cases where the fancy name (Taboo) is trademarked, you are still free to sell the rose under the breeder's code (TANelorak). That's precisely what is being done when you see English roses on rose lists as their AUS names instead of the fancy names (Heritage, Tamora, etc.) Austin trademarked the names because the roses themselves couldn't be patented as they'd been sold here before he chose to take out the patents. In order to sell them under their fancy names, you have to pay him a royalty to use his trademarked name. But, you can sell the exact rose and refer to it by its AUS name all day long. Kim

I thought that patents last 17 years if they were applied for before 1995, and those after 1995 last 20 years. Is that wrong?

No, I think that was around the time they changed the laws, increasing the duration of the patent. If you're not sure, figuring older ones last twenty years, too, can't get you in trouble. Kim

Here is a Wikepedia link about duration of plant patents. I find it confusing but there's a little diagram in which it shows that patents issued ( or applied for?) before 1995 last 17 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_of_patent_in_the_United_States

Maybe some of you can make sense of this article.

lots of great info. Thanks to all. Pembroke

Before I start feeling too smart, could someone double check me on these: 1.Lyda Rose LETlyda 2. Firefighter ORAdal and 3. Sunshine Daydream MEIkanaro are NOT patented?! Surely I did something wrong in the search at the USPTO . . . twice.

I see no patent information for any of the three, though the name "Firefighter" is trademarked, so if you are intending on selling the plants, you can't call it "Firefighter".

You also can't call it "Hacienda" as that is also trademarked. Its other names per HMF are:

� Firefighter �
� Hacienda �
� Red 'n' Fragrant
� Roxanne Pallett
� ORAgo
� ORAadal

They can be sold as any of the other names without permission. Kim

Cool!!! Earlier this spring Lyda Rose rooted 3 of 5 cuttings for me and, if they survive until the magic date of Sept 1, I can give them to my friends without guilt. Oh, I'm not selling any of them. I just want to be able to kill lots of cuttings and give away the 1 in 25 that roots, which more experienced people call "propagation."