Sunday, August 14, 2022

Oh, patents! The Ruirorap Hybrid Tea rose

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Since the Plant Patent Act (now codified in USC Title 35) was voted in 1930, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) delivers plant patents for new varieties of plants. Plant patents are granted for new plant varieties that are asexually reproduced, excluding tubers such as potatoes (used for food), and uncultivated (freely available) plants.

The US plant patent, USPP14468P3, titled Hybrid Tea rose named ‘Ruirorap’ was granted on January 20, 2004 to Anton Pouw, the renowned Dutch Pouw-rose hybridizer and inventor. The patent was assigned to the equally well-known Dutch De Ruiter rose company, exclusive “Purveyor of the Royal (dutch) Household” since 2015.

The patent recites the hybridizing process, as well as the color and bud size characteristics of the new Ruirorap variety of Hybrid Tea Rose, differentiating the new variety from all others. Interestingly, the Ruirorap Hybrid Tea rose has large red flowers, different from the seed parent, which has pink flowers, and the pollen parent, which has yellow flowers. The new variety was grown from a grafted cutting in the Netherlands, with all the characteristics of the new variety, established and transmitted through repeated propagation.

The bud size (approx. 5 cm long and 3.5 cm wide), together with the petals’, uniform and unchanging, deep shade of red, are the distinguishing characteristics of the Ruirorap Hybrid Tea rose. Using the Royal Horticultural Society Color Chart (RHSCC), the petal color is darker, or near 46A, with a very tiny white (155A) point of attachment, at the base of the petals. From a distance the Ruirorap rose is a deep red rose, whose color does not change as it ages. Otherwise, the Ruirorap Hybrid Tea Rose has no fragrance. In a vase, the flowers last approximately 13 days, with flowers opening very slowly. The average size of the blooms is 12 cm. The plants are susceptible to Blackspot disease, but they are resistant to mildew and rust.  

An image of the Ruirorap Hybrid Tea rose is included above. 

References

1937-2007 – Anton Pouw
https://de-kwakel.com/toen-nu/andere-tijden-870-19/1937-2007-anton-pouw

De Ruiter
https://deruiter.com/en/about-us/

Royal Horticultural Color Charts (RHSCC)
http://rhscf.orgfree.com/

USPTO - United States Patent and Trademark Office

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