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I'm buying some and giving the seeds to as many neighbours as possible for free. Imagine patenting a fucking plant.

ambicapter 1y ago
Imagine patenting something that doesn't exist in nature that you created? It's also not a foodstuff or required for living in any way.
deleted 1y ago
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asimovfan 1y ago
there is no normative legality of these things.. or anything.. its just whatever people decide the law to be at the time..
IAmBroom 1y ago
Edit: I did not realize that the person I'm replying to was commenting on the petunias, not the article.
- MarkusQ 1y ago
  You are quite correct, that's not how it works. Corn mazes are actually created by selectively planing the corn in a pattern or by selectively cutting down plants to create the maze. This can be done with a variety of different plants, but corn is a popular choice because of it's height, durability, and the timing of its harvest. I suspect the similarity of its other name (maize) is just a coincidence.
  - schoen 1y ago
    Hopefully someone has "the Amazing Maize Maze". (Hopefully she's named May and so it's "May's Amazing Maize Maze".)
ceejayoz 1y ago
Imagine spending years and millions of dollars doing the R&D on said plant, and finding mass-cultured clones for sale in Home Depot the next year undercutting your investment. It's a novel invention and no one needs glowing petunias. I think that's pretty much the ideal scenario for a patent.
- Enginerrrd 1y ago
  If your business model relies on fairly draconian control over the liberties of individuals in ways that defy normal human social norms (like propagating and giving away plants), then its probably not the right business model. Not even just from a moral standpoint; its a losing business model. Also, exerting control over a commercial cloning effort and trying to control personal use and propagation are totally different scenarios. The reality is their business is just not going to be substantially hurt by personal propagation and use.
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    Again, the business recognizes this difference. They openly permit personal propagation. They just don't want you starting a for-profit glowing plants nursery with your clones.
    - squigz 1y ago
      Does "personal propagation" include giving them to friends and family?
      - ceejayoz 1y ago
        Legally? Probably not. Practically? Unless you gift it to a thousand "friends", they're unlikely to a) hear of it, b) care about it, or c) break even on the legal costs of going after it.
- carlosjobim 1y ago
  Imagine that people have been breeding animals and plants for thousands and thousands of years, and still anybody is free to do what they want with them.
throwawaymaths 1y ago
plant patents are explicitly one of THE categories of patents (in the US). https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/data/patdesc.htm https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/data/patde...
aaron695 1y ago
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Imagine patenting something that doesn't exist in nature that you created? It's also not a foodstuff or required for living in any way.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

asimovfan 1y ago

there is no normative legality of these things.. or anything.. its just whatever people decide the law to be at the time..

IAmBroom 1y ago

Edit: I did not realize that the person I'm replying to was commenting on the petunias, not the article.

MarkusQ 1y ago
You are quite correct, that's not how it works. Corn mazes are actually created by selectively planing the corn in a pattern or by selectively cutting down plants to create the maze. This can be done with a variety of different plants, but corn is a popular choice because of it's height, durability, and the timing of its harvest. I suspect the similarity of its other name (maize) is just a coincidence.
- schoen 1y ago
  Hopefully someone has "the Amazing Maize Maze". (Hopefully she's named May and so it's "May's Amazing Maize Maze".)

ceejayoz 1y ago

Imagine spending years and millions of dollars doing the R&D on said plant, and finding mass-cultured clones for sale in Home Depot the next year undercutting your investment. It's a novel invention and no one needs glowing petunias. I think that's pretty much the ideal scenario for a patent.

Enginerrrd 1y ago
If your business model relies on fairly draconian control over the liberties of individuals in ways that defy normal human social norms (like propagating and giving away plants), then its probably not the right business model. Not even just from a moral standpoint; its a losing business model. Also, exerting control over a commercial cloning effort and trying to control personal use and propagation are totally different scenarios. The reality is their business is just not going to be substantially hurt by personal propagation and use.
- ceejayoz 1y ago
  Again, the business recognizes this difference. They openly permit personal propagation. They just don't want you starting a for-profit glowing plants nursery with your clones.
  - squigz 1y ago
    Does "personal propagation" include giving them to friends and family?
    - ceejayoz 1y ago
      Legally? Probably not. Practically? Unless you gift it to a thousand "friends", they're unlikely to a) hear of it, b) care about it, or c) break even on the legal costs of going after it.
carlosjobim 1y ago
Imagine that people have been breeding animals and plants for thousands and thousands of years, and still anybody is free to do what they want with them.

throwawaymaths 1y ago

plant patents are explicitly one of THE categories of patents (in the US). https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/data/patdesc.htm https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/data/patde...

aaron695 1y ago

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