PPAF?

[Liselotte]

I have several PPAF plants growing in my garden, that were bought before they were PPAF or had a patent attached.
Revolution, Stained Glass, Victory, Orange Marmelade, Cookie Crumbs and quite a few more were meant for propagation and are now sitting there waiting. All cookie crumb plants died, Revolution, several plants reverted to all green, Victory I had to replace and now, that they are finally growing, they are also PPAF!
What are my rights??? Can I at least legally sell the # of plants originally bought!
I am very careful NOT to buy any more PPAF plants, not because I am not allowed to divide them, but more to protest this practice. Besides, some of the plants are not worth it.

[Wild Dog]

liselotte say;
but more to protest this practice

What is it about patenting that you are protesting?

[Wild Dog]

For a plant you're purchasing, it darn well better say PPAF or PP on the tag.

This is a serious question; or what?

[Pieter]

I have several PPAF plants growing in my garden, that were bought before they were PPAF or had a patent attached.

Liselotte, I think you may well find that there is a difference in terms of where the patent is held: a US patent is not necessarily valid in der Schweiz. At least that's the way it is with manufactured items; plants, who knows? Anyone?

[John]

I'm with Liselotte, I plan to avoid purchasing patented or PPAF plants. I'll not get into any 'political' discussions of my reasons why. Let's say that when I purchase a plant, I'd like to think it is mine to do with as I please, and that any and all 'rights' are included.

[wishiwere]

Well, this is all new to me and I'd have never thought about a plant being Patented not being able to be shared with my mom or other family/friend member. Guess I need to check the status on mine and put them all in their own garden so I'm not 'committing' a crime when I share them huh? And not buying them again is an no-brainer, I think.

Great thread! Informative, interesting and thought provoking.

[largosmom]

Definitely an interesting thread. I have several PPAF plants, I guess as I recognize some of the names. I'll have to do some research and mark up my data on those plants then just to be safe. Might be a good practice to also mark their new tags as I make them. I cannot say I have any issues with the practice of patenting a plant, seems like if there is a legal right to do so, then the creater can do what they want when they put their effort into it. I can imagine it is not a cheap process. It would certainly explain the expense of some things on the market that otherwise have no explanation, such as some varieties of particular plants always being more expensive than others.

With hostas, you almost always have another choice for a similar plant unless you really WANT a particular one that happens to be PPAF.

Not sure I understand the ethics besides the rule of law, however. I can pull up a seedling from some other plant and get rid of it. I realize that some people think hostas never need dividing, but it seems reasonable to me to think that at some point most of them will be divided and it isn't like you can prevent them from sending up new eyes. Ethically, it seems one would be bound to keep any resulting divisions yourself, or to to destroy them.

[jobranch]

This has been an interesting thread. Not sure about all the legal stuff. To keep it simple, I would buy a PPAF plant if I found it desirable. I agree with earlier posts that the real reason for PPAF is to guard against hosta nurserys mass producing a PPAF hosta without permission. If I want to give my sister a division, I would not worry about the hosta police showing up at my house.

[wishiwere]

Another question that maybe someone here can answer? What is the diffrence between the PPAF or a Patented Plant and the Plant breeders' rights (PBR), also known as plant variety rights (PVR)? I'm not sure I understand there is, but it appears to cover the seed and so forth as well as dividing the plant for you own use? Goodness!

[Liselotte]

Pieter, John,
For a plant breeder who puts in a lot of time and effort into developing a new and special plant, it is understandable that he wants some protection and has it patened.

However, we could expect that these plants are superior and of course, we ARE informed that they are patened. For small nurseries, who have propagated their plants the old fashioned way, this is a problem.

Of course I was upset to find several cultivars I have been propagating, are all of a sudden sold as PPAF. I have no intention of breaking the law and not sell more # than what I bought. However, at least in my own garden, I will divide a Hostas if it gets too large.

Now, many of the patented plants are registred in th US and EU countries (There are quite a few dutch breeders). Switzerland is not an EU member but adjusts many laws and regulations to be conform.

At least some catalogs now clearly mark their PPAF etc... plants and it is up to us addicts to decide if we want them.

P.S. Just wondering how many PPAF plants are found in the market to have HVX????