PlantHaven News

PlantHaven E-briefs

We are now offering monthly PlantHaven E-brief newsletters to our licensees and breeder clients. We these will serve to keep people updated and informed of the new and exciting new events at PlantHaven. Please click here to view.

PlantHaven 2010 Pack Trials

We are once again looking forward to PlantHaven’s participation in the California Pack Trials at our location at Island View Nursery, 3376 Foothill Road
in Carpinteria. We will be exhibiting select 2010 introductions from April 10-17. Our staff will provide guided tours and discussions of these varieties including growing tips, landscaping recommendations, seasonal considerations, and particular cultivar attributes and unique benefits. We will provide a brochure to all attendees which will include a listing of sources. Varieties shown at this venue must be readily available in volume. We hope that by co-promoting varieties with our licensees we will help launch their sales. We extend a warm welcome to all the growers, garden writers, landscape designers and brokers who can stop by and visit us.

Spotlight on Shrubs and Trees

We are continuing our mission to add many significant shrub and tree introductions to our future offers. Most of these new varieties are at the early stage of preliminary build up prior to distribution for trials to those shrub and tree licensees who wish to participate in the evaluation processes which are so important to all of us. PlantHaven has continued to add new licensees, especially in the nursery sector. We are committed to supporting all licensees according to their interests, and we are always pleased to hear from them.

Marketing Services Available

Just a reminder! In an effort to support our licensees, PlantHaven offers marketing support by providing graphic design services to all licensees. We can design a wide range of marketing materials for you including tradeshow support materials, product info sheets, journal ads, brochures, catalogs, postcards, tags, and posters. We would like to encourage all PlantHaven licensees to avail themselves of PlantHaven’s marketing services and we would love to hear your ideas and suggestions of how we can help support your sales. Please contact PlantHaven to let us know how we can boost your sales!

The PlantHaven website is continually refreshed and has some attractive features, including Plant of the Month. The website can always be relied upon for the most up to date listings and descriptions of PlantHaven varieties and their plant patent status. As always, we welcome your thoughts, suggestions, and comments on ways we can be of help.

New Plant Forums

Each year industry journals feature new plant introductions. We are constantly submitting our varieties to these forums and take pride in seeing a large number of PlantHaven varieties featured. We ask that licensees notify us before submitting a variety so that we may coordinate our efforts. Look out for our submissions to American Nurseryman’s New Plants issue in December and NM Pro’s New Plant Pavilion!

Trade Show Visits

PlantHaven has many trade show visits lined up throughout the year and we would love to meet any of you who are attending as well.

PlantHaven colleagues will be attending OFA, the Ohio Short Course, in Columbus, Ohio from July 10-13, and Farwest in Portland, Oregon from August 26-28.

Patent News

We would like to remind you that current patent status of all our varieties is available on our website.
U.S. Plant Patent News: The United States continues to differ from the rest of world in respect of the “grace” period allowed prior to filing a patent. Apart from the U.S., the PBR law of other countries allows four years (or six years for trees and vines) of sale outside the application territory before an application must be made in that territory (unless also sold within the territory). U.S. Plant patent law makes no practical distinction between sales within or outside the U.S. The first date of worldwide sale effectively starts the U.S. clock, and an application must be filed (dated) within one year. The U.S. National Association of Plant Patent Owners hopes to persuade the patent office and Congress to harmonize patent law with PBR law in this respect. So far, little progress has been made. Consequently, PlantHaven continues to advise all breeders to take great care in all publications and distributions of new varieties. We strongly recommend taking advice on each circumstance and having a firm plan which accommodates the tight deadline and other procedures of U.S. patent law. PlantHaven has produced an explanatory leaflet: Patent and Trademark FAQ’s available for reference.

Trademark News

U.S. Trademark law is clear, and the U.S. Trademark Appeal Board has recently re-stated, that “varietal names are generic designations and cannot be registered as trademarks”. Meanwhile, many breeders and nurseries have adopted a policy of dual naming: the patent application may be filed with a “patent name” or code name, and the plants may then be marketed under a separate “marketing name” or “trade name”.

PlantHaven believes that dual naming is both useful and indeed may be necessary. First, breeders have the right to file for protection under a code name – which may include a prefix which is common identifier of all of that breeder’s introductions. Second, some Plant Breeders Rights systems will refuse to accept applications with plant names which conflict with existing trademarks. However, in all cases, it is essential that the “patent name” is consistently used and displayed in catalogues and on plant labels, for the avoidance of any doubt as to the patent status. In addition, the “patent name” is the worldwide cultivar name and must be used as such in all applications for variety protection.

A common question from our breeder clients and from nurseries concerns the practice of applying for trademark registration on the marketing name or trade name. It is sometimes argued that this is permissible since the trade name is not the variety name – that name being the patent name or code name.
A recent case at Federal District Court resulted in the cancellation of a trademark on the grounds that consumers perceived the trademark as the name of the plant, irrespective of the intentions of the trademark owner, and irrespective of the trademark owner’s use of the symbol ®. The court went on to say that trademarks must fail when growers and consumers cannot operate in the market effectively without using the name to designate the plant being bought or sold.

Overseas Clients

Withholding Tax on Royalties: In common with many countries, the U.S. does not allow money outflows to foreign nationals without deduction of tax at source. Heightened security measures have led to more rigorous processes for official monitoring of all international funds transfers. Fortunately, the U.S. has concluded tax treaties with most trading partners, under which patent owners may apply for complete or partial exemption from deduction of this “withholding tax”, which otherwise must be applied at a rate of 30%. As a payer of royalties to foreign nationals, PlantHaven is a designated withholding agent. We have assisted our overseas clients to obtain their applicable exemptions.

Breeder Clients

PlantHaven has developed an extensive network with the capacity to trial and market new plant varieties. In the main overseas markets where PlantHaven is the head agent, we work closely with overseas agents who will take of patent protection in their respective territories if the variety is successful in trials.