Roosterlorn said:Can a plant (cultivar) be trademarked and never registered? 
1 --- If you are speaking of being registered as (for example) accepted in the Lily Registry, then the answer is yes; a plant (cultivar) can be trademarked and never registered.
It is the
name that is trademarked, not the plant. Though a trademark is usually attached to a particular cultivar, strain or grex, it's just a marketing tool for better sales, and to help prevent others from using the designation and benefiting from it. Trademarks do not need to be very specific. A trademark could designate a group of plants, even unrelated, under a single name. As a fictitious example, a company could trademark a line of dwarf shrubs that might consist of types of boxwood, barberry, two roses and Mugho pine. They call it their Miniature Beauties™ line.
2 --- If you are speaking of being registered as a registered trademark (®), the answer is still yes. ® is no different than ™ , except that, in a nutshell, ® affords greater legal protection.
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As for popularity in the general public, this is largely directed by the supply side of the equation. (Remember the Lily Tree® ?)
