Trademarked Morph Names

[AntMan612]

I was wondering if the morph name of a leopard gecko implies its lineage. For example, are all Rainwater Albinos decendants of the line developed by Tim Rainwater? Are all Murphy Patternless geckos decendants of Pat Murphy's line? Or "Mack" Snows? Or, are the morphs just named according to how well they match the genetic characteristics of those lines? What are the "rules?"

 

[Grinning Geckos]

I don't think any of the names are actually trademarked. Usually, the person that "makes" the morph first gets to name it, and it sticks because people are familiar with it.

 

[Halley]

I agree with what Shanti said. The names aren’t really trademarks. But, the name does have to do with the linage, you will not be able to make a Rainwater Albino, and the only way you can have a Rainwater Albino is if it comes for the Rainwater Albino line.

 

[AntMan612]

So, if a breeder in Timbuktu produces a solid blue leopard gecko, names it a Wookytooky Blue gecko (after themselves), valued at $100,000 each, can anybody else who happens to produce a similar blue gecko from their own projects claim they have Wookytooky Blues for sale?

Please excuse the silly names....

 

[AntMan612]

(I didn't see your post earlier.) Wouldn't a buyer, e.g., at a reptile show, have difficulty verifying the authenticity? Couldn't they mistakenly spend too much?

I agree with what Shanti said. The names aren’t really trademarks. But, the name does have to do with the linage, you will not be able to make a Rainwater Albino, and the only way you can have a Rainwater Albino is if it comes for the Rainwater Albino line.

 

[Halley]

Generally names are give to either a line in which was developed by a person, or a random genetic mutation. For the albino strains you have Tremper, Rainwater, and Bell. If you had a Bell pop up into your group, you would indeed call it a Bell, same for Tremper and Rainwater.

If you did it with a Tangerine it would be different however. If you line breed a tangerine gecko, you couldn’t name it after The Urban Gecko’s line, or Hot Gecko’s line, or even JMG’s line.

So in short if the guy in Timbuktu produces a solid blue gecko from a random genetic mutation, and you have the same blue gecko pop up in your colony, and you test breed to that blue gecko and they are the same genetically, then you would call your line the Wookytooky. If you both line breed the trait, then they would have to be different, if he had a random mutation and you line breed it they would be different, if he line breed it and you had a random genetic mutation they would be different.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[AntMan612]

I think I get it now. There's a difference when referring to the line bred morph lines (e.g., TUG tangs) versus the random genetic mutation names (e.g., RW albinos).

Thanks for your help!