Patentierte Hostas😛P , PPAF in USA und CPBRAF Hostas in Euroländer spielt für uns in der Schweiz also keine Rolle, solange wir nicht diese Pflanzen ins Ausland schicken. Das wird sich ändern, sollte die Schweiz der EU beitreten! CPBRAF Pflanzen dürfen dann nicht mehr geteilt, verkauft oder verschenkt werden etc.
"Das schreibt Dr. Warren Pollack über dieses Thema:
Yes, where hostas are concerned a lot has happened in the past 12 and more years both overseas and in the States. There are nice and interesting selections of hostas in local nurseries these days. And yes, I'm told by others that the Dutch are flooding the market with immature TC plants and unfortunately the nurseries don't care much what tag goes with which plant or how names are misspelled.
On the other hand I visited Marco Fransen's nursery in Holland a few years ago and was most impressed with the quantity and QUALITY of his stock. In fact, I was highly surprised at the vast number of different hostas he had and their sizes, plus his interest in correct nomenclature. When I queried him about other Dutch nurserymen though, he was silent!
As for plant patent protection, called "plant breeders' rights" in Europe and Canada, since you live in Switzerland you need NOT be concerned about any hosta having a PP. PPAF, CPBRAF etc desigation. Switzerland in not a member of he EU and thus EU regulations don't apply in this country. Also, American and Canadian plant patent applications and granted patents only apply to the US and Canada.
You probably will find an American and European plant patent designation associated with Tony Avent's H. 'Tattoo' that is sold in Europe. As I understand it, Tony has assigned an American plant broker in California to handle the commercialization of 'Tattoo' OTHER than the sale of this hosta by his own company in North Carolina, Plant Delights Nursery. And this broker has been quite aggressively using the EU plant protection application for 'Tattoo' in both Britain and in Holland to enforce this hosta's exclusiveness in Europe. What this means is a royalty is paid to the broker (and thus Tony) for each 'Tattoo' propagated in EU countries. When or if you purchase 'Tattoo' in an EU country, that royalty has (or should have been) paid.
HOWEVER, a Swiss nursery can acquire 'Tattoo' and propagate and sell it in a non-EU country without paying the royalty since 'Tattoo' isn't protected in non-EU countries. But legally, that Swiss nursery cannot sell ITS OWN propagated 'Tattoo' in EU countries without paying a royalty to the American broker. But I'd bet there is much underhandedness in the nursery business.
You yourself can propagate (divide) and share (even sell) 'Tattoo' with any one who lives in Switzerland and any other non-EU country, but not with any one who lives in France, Holland, Germany, Britain and other EU countries including the 10 new ones to be added this May.
And don't worry about any patent protected hostas you purchase from any American nursery. Just buy them and ENJOY. You can do whatever you want with them, as long as what you do is in Switzerland.
As for Hans Hansen not shipping PP or PPAF plants to Europe, I would say (but I'm not a patent attorney) that it is his (Shady Oaks Nursery's) way of "protecting" the status of these hostas with respect to their EU applications. It's a matter of showing good faith in his company's intentions of seeking and enforcing plant breeders' rights of these hostas within the EU. I'm sure his patent attorney advised him to do so; if I were his lawyer I would have done this too. My guess is that although Switzerland is NOT an EU country, from a lawyer's viewpoint it is best (wise?) to exclude ALL European countries to be on "the safe side," since the number of European countries in the EU far outweighs those that are not in the EU.
Yes, you can use this information. But as I said, I'm not a patent attorney, though I worked two years in the office of one of my former employer's attorneys as his technical consultant."
Ach Bert, Hilfe, bin total überlastet! /emoticons/default_icon_mrgreen.gif/emoticons/default_icon_mrgreen.gif/emoticons/default_icon_mrgreen.gif Brauch dringend 3 Vollzeit- Gärtner, doch mir kann man nichts richtig machen und bezahlen müsste man mich auch, dass ich es erlaube meinen garten zu betreten, bin eine von den ganz Schlimmen, also bitte Geduld, bis im Winter komme ich dazu. /emoticons/default_laugh.png/emoticons/default_laugh.png/emoticons/default_laugh.png bis dann ist Dein English so perfekt, dass ich das nicht mehr tun muss! /emoticons/default_laugh.png Liebe Güsse, Lys
P.S. Schade, wir scheinen die einzigen Hosta-Fans zu sein, oder getraut man sich einfach nicht /emoticons/default_icon_question.gif Oder sind wir zu langweilig, was meinst Du /emoticons/default_icon_question.gif