What goes around comes around...
J.E. Shields (Tue, 24 Jan 2006 06:02:14 PST)

Moral obligations are one thing. Legal obligations are a different
matter. The legal aspects of "pirating" are simple: if a plant clone,
variety, seed strain, etc., is not protected by a plant patent, once sold
to anyone it is in the public domain.

An individual breeder might contract with a particular grower or seller to
collect royalties on a new variety, but unless the plant is protected by a
plant patent, anyone else could buy (legally) a bulb from the seller and
propagate from it freely without being bound by the other grower's contract
with the breeder.

The Dutch have what they call "Breeders Rights" which -- unless actually
plant patents -- are probably a matter of Dutch business agreements. I'd
be curious about their legal status. John Grimshaw worked in The
Netherlands in the plant trade for a couple years; John, what can you tell
us about Dutch "Breeders Rights?"

Disclaimer:

I'm not a lawyer; I did work in the pharmaceutical industry for 28 years
however, and there I dealt extensively with patent attorneys regarding
patents and other aspects of intellectual property. I'm inventor or
co-inventor on about a dozen or so patents.

Jim Shields
in central Indiana (USA)

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Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA