I am working on sustainable agriculture for northern communities.one of the projects will be bringing in new species of plants. What’s the legalities regulations behind propagating trees, shrubs, strawberries.
1 Like
It just depends. Some plants are protected by patent, which means you have to pay to propagate them. Some are considered invasive in one area but not in another. I believe in some situations the plant itself is not problematic but is restricted to prevent cross pollination with an important cash crop. Get in touch with county extensions in the areas you are planning to work in for better guidance.
4 Likes
Agree. Really can’t answer without knowing specifics. You can legally ignore plant patents after expiring (I think 20 years usually) a quick search for “patent variety name” will tell you if the plant is patented and if the patent is expired.
Some plants are trademarked. You can legally propagate and sell them, just not under the trademarked name. Those never expire, but also aren’t a problem for personal use or to share with friends. As long as you don’t advertise under the TM name.
4 Likes
thank you for your answer i will look more into what we have around these parts for information in that.
i am from northwest territories in Canada.
excuse my needy questions but could you provide an example legality documentation by chance.
I may need to surface this for a discussion as we develop agriculture in in the north. not an obligation just a request.
beautiful this was verry useful. were looking to propagate a strawberry and tame a strain to the northern soil composure.
Sorry to say that I don’t know of any examples. Is there a ministry of agriculture you could reach out to for direction? Perhaps there are nurseries that are knowledgeable. Good luck!
1 Like
So you’re looking to develop your own variety? That’s pretty cool! I would imagine you’d be clear of most legal issues if working on your own breeding program. I know nothing about Canadian law, but if you were in the USA you’d pretty much be in the clear unless you needed to import new genetics across an international boarder, or in some cases state borders.
In most cases you can’t actually pay to propagate them if they’re patented. Patent holders are often large wholesale nurseries, or an individual who collaborates with one of them. They control the market and require that all plant starts of said variety be bought from them. That way they’re not just getting royalties, but also high volume sales of the plants.
I wouldn’t be so against plant patents if it just meant paying a royalty. The whole controlling the market thing is where it really hurts smaller nurseries if they can’t compete due to being not allowed to propagate themselves and not turning a high enough volume to be buying in bulk from wholesalers.
1 Like
Many “trademarked” names are unenforceable since trademarks have been so widely misunderstood and misapplied in the horticultural world. Official cultivar names for plants can NOT be trademarked, so unless a plant has an official non-trademarked cultivar name being used consistently on plant tags and in marketing along side the so called “trademark” names, then the trademark becomes unenforceable. Many growers are now trying to do a work around where in they use a non-pronounceable breeder code as the official cultivar name in hopes that they can have a valid trademark on a pronounceable marketing name. This is sort of a gray area, but likely many of these trademarks wouldn’t hold up in court since most gardeners are not going around referring to their plants as “P5008J” (made up example). If the trademarked name is being commonly used as if it is the cultivar name, then in effect it does become the cultivar name and in theory loses any claim to legal ownership by the trademark holder.