Belinda, you may take cuttings for your personal use only, no trading or selling without permission from Terra Nova Nursery whom hold the rights to this one. It is my understanding that all seeds are fair game. Just watch out for the plant police on this one.

Really? Snowbank was listed on another post, but I didn't get a cutting with my other requests :-(

Sure hope the plant police don't catch them? One should know their brugs and what you can and can't do.

I think Snowbank and Miner's Claim are the only two protected by patent.

Yes, for 20 years!

Belinda,

Yes, take as many cuttings you can root.

Mulched well, it should come back next year in Z8.

However, if you are concerned, dig it up either whole or after taking it all in cuttings, pot the rootball, and grow it by a window all Winter and plant it back out in the Spring.

I wouldn't sell them, but as gifts or trades, why not.

Wildcat

Grant of a patent for a plant precludes others from
1. asexually reproducing
2. or selling
3. or using the patented plant.
A plant patent is regarded as limited to one plant, or genome. A sport or mutant of a patented plant would not be considered to be of the same genotype, would not be covered by the plant patent to the parent plant, and would, itself, be separately patentable, subject to meeting the requirements of patentability. A plant patent expires 20 years from the filing date of the patent application. As with utility applications, when the plant patent expires, the subject matter of the patent becomes public domain.
United States Patent and Trademark Office USPTO

Taji,

Thank you for the information.

What do they mean by 3. or using the patented plant.?

Does that mean growing it.

Anyway Belinda, when you bought your plant, did it have labled on it its US Patent Number and Trademark information?

I doubt it, enjoy it, do what you want.

David

Thanks Taji, some folks just don't get it as to what they can or can't do with patented plants. Someone should direct this to those that hold the patent for this plant as I know when these were shipped out for nurseries to be sold they are labled. It's just scary that some folks just will do what they want with them.

Gosh, I guess there could be lots ways you could use a patented plant but I can only think of a few. The first 2 are kind of exaggerated circumstances .... but what if?

1. You could create a medical marvel wart remover from this plant!

2. You could discover that by fermenting this plant you create a perfume worth a million bucks an ounce!

3. Hybridzing purposes

:)

LOL

Morning Taji, I perfer to use it in eye drops and for my lovely leg veins! Thanks for the laughs! I just wish mine would bloom as I have seen TNN's Mother Plant and it was breath taking!

My mom went through this with a rose bush she had years back. She actually had someone drop by her house once a month to check on it's condition. It was some kind of Lady Di rose or something like that.
Kind of strange at the time to me. But I guess they need to see how the plant performs over time?? Of course I know it comes down to profit in the long run to.

What is wrong with doing the right thing? The right thing to do is to respect our USA plant patent laws.
It cost so much money to patent and to enforce a patent. There are people out there that are paid good money to investigate and to help enforce patents.
Anyone that is selling a patented plant with permission from the patent holder will label their plants properly. That is one of the requirements. I know this to be a fact because I looked into selling David Austin roses in my nursery several years ago. If you see a patented plant for sale that is not properly labeled then that should be a signal to you that someone is selling it illegally.

If it's not already too late, I'd dig this one up and overwinter it indoors. While the early hype about Snowbank calimed it would be about a zone hardier than other brugs, my experience with it is that it's not. Also, I'd root whatever pieces I could, just to ensure that I continued to be able to enjy the plant I paid good money for.

I don't get it.......It took forever to load on my dial up, and what does it even mean?

What???Now it's gone......did anyone else see what I saw last night?? I am sooooo confused!!

Don't be confused as I did see it too. Please understand that some folks get their jollies by doing stuff like this and they seem to do it more during the holidays. How rude are these folks?

I guess that's why most people trade as "variegated, unknown". Most of the variegated ones are patented, aren't they? I know Peaches 'n Cream is.

To my knowledge, Peaches N Cream is not patented. Do you know who patented it?

Musings ..........

Miner's Claim and Snowbank are the only patented brugmansias.

IMO hybridizing these variegates is a waste of time, the seedlings will not flourish.

I think selling cuttings would be breaking the law.

also _

What about Greenbank ? A registered green sport of Snowbank ?

"A sport or mutant of a patented plant would not be considered to be of the same genotype, would not be covered by the plant patent to the parent plant, and would, itself, be separately patentable,...."

Don't forget the Langenburgs variegated double pink. Wupper-wufferwhatever. I can never remember how to spell it. Haven't seen this brug in our real USA world yet. To die for. Isn't this a seedling and not a sport of something else?

So let's get a little deeper into this subject. Say I was a nursery, and I bought a tray of said Snow Bank or Miners Claim, and grew and sold the original stock, but took cuttings along the way.(I have seen many people on Ebay doing this) They have the patent in the one time sell to them and then it's a free for all. And who is the plant police?? I have questioned an Ebay seller about a Snow Bank plant and she was so mean I new she was selling pirate plants. I contacted Terra Nova and told them (so I'm a tattle tale) so what is to stop me if I buy my plants from the propper source??

BelindaM, how about putting the shoe on the other foot? You are the one that did all the work on doing the right thing and patented your plant, would you like folks to let you know? Would you surf to see who and what is being done to your plant? Last how would you feel if you were dishonest and knew better but didn't care? We all should strive to what is best for the plants we all love dearly. If you know it's wrong but continue to sell what you know isn't right are you in this for the money or the plants?
Thank you for contacting TNN, I'm sure they appreciated it.
Welcome to the plant police on the position your took. ; )

When I checked into selling David Austin roses for our TN nursery I was told that they furnish the tags that go in each pot. The seller could not create their own tags. That was one sure fire way for the average gardener to know that the roses were the real deal and originated from the patent holder. I don't know how the patent holders deal with brugs in todays world. I have no idea if they handle their brugs in the same way.
Thumbs up Belinda! :)

But... the problem is that there really isn't a Patent Police force out there. If you develop your own variety of plant and protect it with a patent, it is up to YOU to police the plant buying/propagating world to ensure that no one infringes on your hard work. And even if you find someone breaking the law it's not like you can call up the local sheriff and have someone arrested. It is a slow, slow process that involves a lot of money - your money. The government will assist you part of the way but all the hard work will be done by you. And just because you prove in a court of law that Mr X illegally propagated your patented plant, and the judge awards a judgement against Mr X in the case, this does not mean that Mr X will actually pay you. He can simply ignore you and the judgement, and you will have to drag him into court again and again to get the court to force him to pay up. You will be out all of this money. In the end your lawyer will be the only one making any money.

The same problem exists in the artworld, the design world, the inventing world, the writing and publishing world... the list goes on and on. This is why you don't see little back yard operations holding patents on valuable plants - they always link up with the big boys, the ones with the deep pockets to develop, market and protect their prized plants.

Very good points. I was informed that it can costs millions to enforce a patent. The biggest boys do have hired help. All it takes is one phone call from an anonymous anybody and an infringement accusation is guaranteed to be investigated. I admit I'd like to see them try to enforce the "no using my plant for hybridizing purposes part" lol! (if that is for sure included in the "no use" rules.)
I personally think patenting a brug is a waste of money. But I will still respect the law. Just my opinion :)

The chance that every rose collector out there is propagating David Austin roses is not likely simply because these Roses are nowhere near as easy as brugs.

Quote: "He can simply ignore you and the judgement, and you will have to drag him into court again and again to get the court to force him to pay up. You will be out all of this money."

There is one other avenue of leverage, although it's certainly not perfect: Public disgrace. Right here on forums like these people are watching out for patent thieves & reporting to the public on them. I've seen numerous times here on GW where the momentum of a discussion about an unscroupulous seller has led to real consequences such as that seller losing his main market, Ebay.
The big sellers that could make a major dent can't handle the bad press, the loss of Ebay as a market, & the much higher dollar volume risk of a potential judgement. The small timers who don't care about the risk and an ongoing company name & reputation, & who will just change their IP & start over, are usually pretty small potatoes in the big scheme of things.
The real plant police is us, all goodhearted honest people who don't mind helping out the original hybridizer make a couple bucks so he can produce more great varieties. :)

There is also a possibility that a lien can be put on any property that this said person my own to obtain the judgement fees, don't ya think?

Do the plants that grow from snowbank from the seeds come out variegated?

Not to my knowledge and you may want to read the site I just posted on CHIMERAS. Here it is again . . .

Here is a link that might be useful: CHIMERAS

First, let me say that as a professional writer, I am very much in favor of protecting your work. I believe we should all respect protected items of any kind. I get really angry when someone plagiarizes my work, but in reality, I don't have time to try to find every copied article or blog post, so I'm sure I catch many fewer than there are.

That being said, and having worked for a grower with patented cactus, nobody is going to come into your yard and arrest you for having a Snowbank without the original tag or proof you bought it. They go after the sellers most of the time, not the gardeners. After 20 years, there are so many illicit cuttings of Snowbank out there, that they probably are only pursuing people who are reported. I'd report a nursery or online seller who was violating the law, but I would never report a gardener who had one in their yard.

First, the only way to prove it really IS a Snowbank is with a genetic test, which is very expensive, and the patent owners are not likely to go out and test every suspect plant found in every yard, because it just isn't cost effective. People lie, so even if someone asks where you got your Snowbank, and they ARE the plant police, they aren't going to arrest you or charge you if you say you got it as a NOID brug from another gardener. You are under no legal obligation to rat out your trading partner or friend, and you could simply say that you didn't keep records of your trades, so you had no idea where you got it.

Unless you have a backyard full of them, they aren't going to arrest you and confiscate your computer to find out where you got it originally. If you are selling them, they may do just that, though.

Let's not all start freaking out. Just respect the law, and if someone sends you a NOID variegated brug, love it and take care of it and don't sell cuttings.

Because I actually have a website that sells Brugs, I contacted Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc.and inquired about selling Snowbank. It is quite expensive since you have to buy a large lot of them, and since I'm small potatoes, I couldn't afford to. They were very kind and informative, and even interested in hearing of my progress as a small grower. I was very impressed with the company. Let's honor patents. These folks strive to create beautiful and unusual plants for the rest of us.

Good to see you, Kathy.

You too, Bob!