Hi Jose, I am very interested in this variety. It would be great if I could have your email address. I stayed in Italia for many years. I would like to discuss some interesting things with you. My email is elviann@163.com. Look forward to your reply. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing that story. I hope that the Toftness and Van Hoven families are doing well. That loss can be utterly devastating.
I am also saddened to hear that the ability to purchase and grow this cherry tree has been lost to the general public. I had seen the term âclub appleâ used on the forum many times but had never understood what people were meaning. After performing some research I understand the why of some people keeping the fruit that they develop restricted (ultimately it seems that money is the largest motivator), although I wish that the earnings from patents was satisfactory to them.
Do we have anyone well-versed in the âclub fruitâ who can explain it further? Using the plant patent finder that @Olpea shared with us
I was able to determine that the cherry tree was patented
but I donât understand whether it is the patent holder that places the variety into protected status as a club fruit, or whether someone else has that authority. I would also like to better understand the legality of what seems to effectively be extending the 20 year patent term indefinitely.
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WellâŚIâm not a patent attorney for sure. But, I believe the assignee, if there is one, has control of the patent. Club varieties are completely independent of patents. I am a member of an apple âclubâ variety (just got my annual bill today).
Those are contractual. In other words, one has to sign a contract to have access to the cultivar. Those are completely independent of plant patents, and are not regulated as such, as I understand it. The developer/inventor can set whatever contractual terms they want.
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