"Is there any legal issue using the exact same name 25 years after the patent expired? "

None whatsoever.

Agreed. The only issue you could encounter using a name is if it is currently trademarked. For instance, some of the earlier English roses were introduced in the US prior to Austin patenting them, so he trademarked the names to prevent anyone from selling them by the names they are known by unless they pay him for the use of those names. If you look at the Vintage catalog, and any others which offer these older varieties and see them being sold under their breeder's names (Ausblush instead of Heritage, Ausmas instead of Graham Thomas, etc.) those names are trademarked. There is no legal prevention of selling the roses themselves, they just can't be called what you know them by without paying royalties for using those names. Fortunately for your purpose, none of the Brownell rose names carry trademarks. You can find whether the name carries a trademark by looking it up on Help Me Find-Roses. The name will be shown with the trademark symbol if it is so protected. Kim

Thanks to both of you for your help.

Rose are patented for a period of ten 10 years. Same as medicines. Please don't confuse us by selling any plant by a different name.
James in Florida

I agree with you about the desire not to have known roses renamed, James, but the period you state for plant patents is a bit off. Previously, patents ran for 17 years. In the past few years, that was extended to 21 years. You can easily determine if the plant is patented by either referring to Help Me Find-Roses or Google Patents. If the rose you wish to propagate is at least 17 years old, it doesn't matter if it WAS patented as the patent has most likely expired. Kim