patented or trademarked orchids.

[orchidsarefun]

if you own the patent you can go after the resellers as well ! I am sure there are companies that trawl for orchid patents with the view to legal action against growers and resellers.
Its noticeable to me because all the orchids I purchased at the big box stores in the past few years have tags. Hausermann's, which has its own breeding programme and has registered quite a few grexes, had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude when I queried the parentage of the miltoniopsis I was going to buy. EZ Orchids - who told me they get a container of 20,000 orchid hybrids from Taiwan every month, said that it was too much work to individually tag each pot.
I realise most people don't care about parentage but it is really frustrating to come across this in a breeding programme. There are consequences in that the harder it becomes to register a grex, the fewer named grexes are going to be available.

[camille1585]

I still don't see how you are coming up with these links between more Noids and patents, and. And why would patent holders wanto to go after the resellers that sell their products? Doesn't make any sense.

And the fact that patents exist doesn't make it harder to register grexes. I also don't see the link the link between the two....

[orchidsarefun]

Ok, I am saying that resellers would rather sell NOIDS because there is an almost zero chance that there could be any legal recourse. If they were to sell named grexes and somebody, somewhere had the patent and acted on it, they could be open to legal action, along with the "illegal" vendor. For example if I owned the patent on Zygonisia Cynosure and I discovered that Marks and Spencers in the UK was "illegally" selling it, I could take action to recover royalties - against them and against whoever sold them the plants.
Added to the above - how many generations does the patent hold validity ? If I hybridised and then found a parent was 1/32 patented, would this be a potential problem ?
I would like to see a list of patented orchids - does anyone know if there is anything online ?


Its apparently becoming more important as the orchid business is huge in terms of $$$$...........

[camille1585]

I think you are not understanding something. Patents doesn't make it illegal to SELL the plant without prior permission, you just can't progagate (and then sell those). Why would there be legal recourse? The producer of the patented plant WANTS their product to be sold! They propagate their variety, then the plants get passed through various channels and end up at the resellers.

Like I said in my first post, plant patents are valid 20 years.

[s.kallima]

Patents on the living organisms... this is really something to make you re-think the human intelligence!!! It's only a matter of big bucks anyway...

[orchidsarefun]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I think you are not understanding something. Patents doesn't make it illegal to SELL the plant without prior permission, you just can't progagate (and then sell those). Why would there be legal recourse? The producer of the patented plant WANTS their product to be sold! They propagate their variety, then the plants get passed through various channels and end up at the resellers.

Like I said in my first post, plant patents are valid 20 years.

I am not talking about legal propagation of a patented plant. The patent would add a $ cost to the price of the plant as a royalty needs to be paid, records need to be kept, etc etc. Selling as NOIDS eliminates the need for all of this. Its impossible to properly identify something sold as a NOID. It can look like a known grex, but you can't be 100% sure. As a patent holder you would only know for sure through extensive testing and that's probably not worth it.
I know a little about this issue as my brother-in-law is going through issues with a vegetable plant that unfortunately is open-pollinated.

I think we will have to agree to disagree on this issue.

[Cym Ladye]

Camille,

I was under the impression that the patent on orchids pertained to the asexual reproduction of the patented plant and the selling of those mericlones. It did not apply to any divisions or seed from the original plant. There are so few orchids patented when one looks at the hybrids out there, it may even be a moot question for our hobby. On the other hand, roses, hydrangeas and similar perennials are heavily patented.

In regard to the NOIDS in the mass market, the comment of "too lazy to make all those tags" is probably the 1st reason. The second is "who cares", and the 3rd is merely "keeping the breeding a secret" for whatever reason.

CL

[orchidsarefun]

Originally Posted by Cym Ladye

Camille,

I was under the impression that the patent on orchids pertained to the asexual reproduction of the patented plant and the selling of those mericlones. It did not apply to any divisions or seed from the original plant. There are so few orchids patented when one looks at the hybrids out there, that it may be a moot question for our hobby. Roses, hydrangeas and similar perennials are heavily patented.

In regard to the NOIDS in the mass market, the comment of "too lazy to make all those tags" is probably the 1st reason. The second is "who cares", and the 3rd is merely "keeping the breeding a secret" for whatever reason.

CL

is there a resource that you are aware of that would list all patented orchids ?

[orchidsarefun]

some useful data. Divisions are specifically included in patent protection. Seeds are excluded except for apomictic seeds ( genetically identical to parent )

Patents Guidance, Tools & Manuals

[Ray]

Divisions are asexual reproductions, too, so are covered by the patent, along with clones.

Nobody is going to jump on you about giving them away. It is the selling of those asexual reproductions that is the problem.