Scions and patents

General Fruit Growing
#24

and for clarification, I am not planning on selling the propagated trees (if legal to do so); only the apples that grow from said trees.

#25

The answer is correct. Trademarks do not give patent protection.

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#26

It’s not stealing. The patent for Cripp’s Pink (actual cultivar name, although there are others that can technically be sold as Pink Lady™) is expired and is public domain, that’s the whole point of how patents work- you agree to publish your new technology and get a period of exclusivity, then when it expires everybody can use it for free.

Only the name Pink Lady is protected now, call it anything else and there is no restriction. You can even say something to the effect of “This is a Cripp’s Pink apple, the same cultivar as Pink Lady™ brand apples.”

Analogy, anyone can produce facial tissues. They’re not patented. But you can’t call them Kleenex, that’s a “trade” mark. You have to use your own mark or a “generic” mark. If the owner of the Pink Lady trademark sufficiently fails to distinguish the trademark from the generic mark and allows them to become sufficiently synonymous, Pink Lady can become a “generic” mark and lose is “trade” mark status.

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#27

I said nothing of patents, only trademarks.

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#28

You implied trademarks give patent protection though, and that is incorrect.

But you’re right one should know for sure should what you’re doing. Trademarks are extremely valuable, and such. Make sure what you do is legal! Don’t assume any user here is an authority. As far as I know I’m correct though, again though trust but verify!
Nothing wrong with being cautious MrsG!

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#29

There was some confusion about the relationship between them. Since this is the “scions and patents” thread, I thought it would be a good to have a strong explanation. Trade versus generic marks are not well understood by most, and in cases like Pink Lady/Cripp’s Pink it can be confusing.

I found this forum because certain threads kept popping up in my tree research, so I just assume Google will likewise just refer anybody with these questions to us here :grinning:

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