Grower caught illegally propagating Knock Out roses

The Conard-Pyle Co. recently announced that it reached a settlement with a nursery in Southern New Jersey found to have infringed its plant patent rights on the popular Knock Out roses. In addition to imposing a substantial financial penalty, Conard-Pyle required the nursery to immediately destroy all infringing plants.

According to the statement from Conard-Pyle, the nursery was in violation of United States Plant Patent Laws that state that no one may asexually propagate or sell any patented plant without the permission of the patent owner.

“Illegal propagation is a matter that we take very seriously,” said Jacques Ferare, vice president of license for The Conard-Pyle Co. “As the introducer of the Knock Out roses, we are committed to ensuring that Knock Out plants are grown only by legitimate growers. This not only protects these legitimate nurseries, it also guarantees that the consumer is getting the real thing and not a knockoff.”

It’s to ensure the rights of Knock Out brand of roses are being protected, Conard-Pyle is taking legal steps to enforce its trademark and plant patent rights throughout the horticultural industry. Most recently Conard-Pyle has joined forces with other major nurseries in hiring Plant Watch, a well-known monitoring program to help enforce its intellectual property rights.