In the United States, a US patent has a life of 20 years and yes, it is illegal to sell a patented rose without a license.
The US patent laws did change in 2013, but those changes were more about what could be patented than about the life of a patent.
I know a lot of people hate the concept of patents, but this is how the breeders pay for their overhead. It can take at least seven years, or more, to test a rose and to build the necessary inventory to introduce a rose. There are a lot of costs involved.
It's not difficult to patent a rose and really not necessary to hire a lawyer.
Smiles,
Lyn
