As I understand it, a patent issued prior to the change in the laws in the mid 90s is good for 17 years from the date of issue. Patents issued since then are good for 20 years from the date of the application. Ingrid Bergman's patent expired in '05, and the breeder, Poulsen Roser, immediately obtained a trade mark on the name. A trade mark protects only the name itself in commerce, though, and isn't a legal impediment to propagation. You just can't market the rose under the name it's best known by without their permission.

No need to worry about the J&P rose. It's a completely different plant with the varietal name, JACtanre, and the patent search engine brings up its record only because Ingrid Bergman is listed among its ancestors in the botanical description.

Thanks for the clarification. I know roses are sometimes marketed with the same name as another, but I doubted that was the case in this instance. Still, I couldn't make sense of what I was reading. My legal-eze reading skills leave something to be desired. :/ The website still looks like Greek to me, so I'm not sure how much use it will be in the future. You answered my question about Ingrid Bergman, though. Thanks again.

Does anyone know exactly what year the update in the patent law to 20 years took effect?
Mike

I believe it is 1994. Could be wrong. Several years ago there were some very informative posts in regard to checking on patents. I didn't save them and wish I had. I've found the government website to be inconsistent in the way it responds to entering the patent # etc.