From Leslie Liddiard:
>> I would really appreciate some
help with this one. I have about 6 rhizomes of what my aunt called
"Silver Shadow". . I believe that it is
pre-1970. Any help that you could provide would be extremely
appreciated. <<
Dear Leslie,
My eyes lit up when the words "SILVER SHADOW"
were mentioned!!! In case you didn't know, my "other job"
involves the sale of spare parts for Rolls Royce and Bentley motor
vehicles. The company was started by my dear dad, and I have decreased
the size of the company since his death in 1992 to just spare parts, which I
can do in my spare time - what's that??
You may be interested to know that the Rolls Royce model,
Silver Shadow was released to the world in 1966. If the name has been
taken from this, then the "pre-1970" naming by your aunt would be
quite correct.
RRMC (Rolls Royce Motor Cars) are VERY VIGILANT regarding
the use of their trademarks on anything and everything. I doubt if
they would have permitted the use of the name Silver Shadow on anything
(yes, even an Iris) after the release of the model. They have deep
pockets and lots of lawyers across the globe who would pounce on this one I
am sure. I know this for two reasons:
1) My dad was President of the RROC of Australia for
many
years. I worked with him in the business so know
what they will do to stamp out any use of any name that may in any way be
considered "misuse of trademark" (they have international patents
of all model names);
2) Prior to working for my dad I worked for a firm
of lawyers in Sydney who did nothing but chase up trademark infringements
for RRMC. Got the job because of 1) above, of course, and my knowledge
of the club, members etc.
If someone has managed to "slip through the net"
and get the name registered, then good luck to them. I for one will
not be squawking. If it's not registered I would respectfully
suggest that only a foolhardy hybridiser would try RRMC on.
Heather Pryor I*@pip.com.au Land
of Oz
