North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Jwlehman@aol.com]

In a message dated 8/26/2005 8:26:47 AM US Eastern Standard Time, bluestem_farm@juno.com writes:

> How can one assure that some low life doesn't patent a particularly nice fruit, if it is new and nobody else has patented it?somebody brings a fruit to an ag. station in the 30s, they look at it for 50 years and then decide to introduce and patent it when the law allows them to do so.



The reason they can do that is it isn't relesed to the public.  

You will find that once a variety is released to the public it can't be patented. Therefore distributing it freely and without Non-Propagation agreements will assure no patentability by the US patent office. Now that doesn't prevent someone from changing the name and trying it, but unlikely they will receive one. Obtaining plant patents isn't easy or cheap, $800 to $1,000 last I knew. 

Someone could change the name and copyright it, but that is far different from a patent. Only the name is copyrighted, not the plant. Someone else could once again change the name and copyright that name. 

The above is based on my experience with the Russian plums. 

Jerry