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So... Anyone know if this is likely to hold up in court? It sounds absurd, but IANAL. The other thing that I keep thinking about is resale. How does that tie i
by mijoharas 6y ago
So... Anyone know if this is likely to hold up in court? It sounds absurd, but IANAL.
The other thing that I keep thinking about is resale. How does that tie in?
- sombremesa 6y agoMaybe. There are GMO patents. As written it is a bit too broad since it does not allow the consumer to synthesize anything in their bodies that coincides with what's in the fruit.
- nixonpjoshua1 6y agoIn the USA there are also "plant patents" which like software patents aren't recognized in most countries. It doesn't require it to be GMO, just to have undergone certain types of selection and breeding and be registered in the right way. GMO patents are usually done via standard utility patents, the plant patent is actually a third category separate from design or utility patents.
- Alex3917 6y ago> Anyone know if this is likely to hold up in court? It would already be illegal to grow clones of the plant anyway, at least for commercial use, so whether or not the EULA is binding is kind of irrelevant.
- thatguy0900 6y agoThe grapes are under patent, it's not the eula that's making it illegal its the patent. See Monsanto and it's trademarked seeds https://www.rt.com/usa/monsanto-patents-sue-farmers-547/ https://www.rt.com/usa/monsanto-patents-sue-farmers-547/
- pfdietz 6y agoTrademark != patent
- united893 6y agoLet's say someone decides to just take their grapes (Cotton Candy Grapes) and grow them in their farm and sell it as "Popsicle Candy". At that point the company that originally bred the grape would sue and claim patent infringement but also for EULA contract violation, giving them additional ammunition. If you can get additional protection by printing some text on a package, why would you not do it? They spent twelve years breeding this strain, it would suck for someone to steal it.
- fiblye 6y ago> They spent twelve years breeding this strain, it would suck for someone to steal it. First we need to decide whether a naturally occurring biological and agricultural process that forms the basis of human civilization is "stealing." Was the introduction of potatoes to Europe an act of grand larceny on a historical scale?
- Hnrobert42 6y agoIt sounds like the 12 year selective breeding is not a natural process. It’s not like someone walked into a field, found this grape, and patented it. How is this different from a chemist developing a chemical compound and patenting it?
- fiblye 6y agoAll farmed food today was selectively bred. Corn and wheat weren't always as palatable as they are today. Fruits are all bigger and juicier. At what point do we decide some life capable of naturally and spontaneously reproducing is patentable, and some life isn't? Should it extend to breeds of animals as well? If someone dumps a pack of grapes by the side of the road, someone else comes along and picks the fruit that later grows, are they pirating fruit? If they decide they like it and plant their own garden, is that a patent violation? They never agreed to an EULA or even knew of its existence. They found it naturally. I'm sure this all sounds ridiculous. That's precisely because it is. The difference between patenting a chemical compound is a patentable compound is probably not producing itself naturally without constant human intervention. Someone, for example, won't be patenting oxygen. They can maybe patent a specific process for producing oxygen, but oxygen is naturally occurring. If a plant is growable from a seed or some other self-sustaining method, it'll continue to produce itself naturally without human intervention as well.
- mdifrgechd 6y agoWell if you have to go to court over something you did with the grapes you bought, you have likely already lost
- vikramkr 6y agoIts a plant patent - a very standard type of patent in the US that will hold up perfectly fine in court
- pfdietz 6y agoPlant patents like this have been around since 1930. It's old and established law.
- markdown 6y agoSlavery was legal for thousands of years. Plant patent laws should be repealed and consigned to the dustbin of history.
- pfdietz 6y agoPlant patents serve an obvious public good. The equate them with slavery is monstrous nonsense, a slap in the face to the victims of slavery.
- markdown 6y agoDon't be silly; I didn't equate the two. I was pointing out the weakness of their argument. Just because something is old and established doesn't make it good.