Trademarked plant names

**M* F* M* <m*@sympatico.ca>**

This very question came up years ago inn a copyright workshop conducted by a lawyer here in Canada. He said that it was up to the company to use the TM and R symbols in its own literature. Other writers are not obligated to use the symbols. He said companies would ask us to use the marks, but that's their job, not ours. That was a while ago, and in Canada, but I wouldn't think US practice would be different. (Good question for a GWA member to ask their lawyer service.)

However, we should use initial caps (Knock-Out Rose) when talking about the plant.The "branded: plants from places like Proven Winners are a grey area for me. I usually get around it by saying "Pretty Much Picasso petunia from Proven Winners." I only do that for those branded plants, and to help my readers find them more easily.

Mary Fran McQuade (on a sloppy-snowy-yucky day in Toronto)

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