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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Patent quandries

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  • From: "Thomas Olenio" <tolenio@sentex.net>
  • To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Patent quandries
  • Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 13:06:07 -0500


Hello,

The one time I contacted a patent holder, wanting to pay them a royalty for a small number of plants, for my own personal use, they were perplexed how I found them, and had no idea what to charge for a royalty fee.

That was my experience.

Later,
Tom

On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 11:26:19 -0500, Richard Moyer <ramoyer@gmail.com> wrote:

Heron,
Thanks for raising the issue of patent quandries, and how or if to respond
to known violations.
At the Southern Fruit Fellowship meeting 2 years ago, John Clark and other
plant breeders in Arkansas shared some of their perspective on plant
introduction and patent protection. John will be at the NAFEX meeting this
year in KY, speaking on new plant variety introduction. John's a great one
to engage on this topic.

University plant breeding programs are under pressure to show economic gain
or benefit from at least some of their introductions. When royalties are
not returned to the programs, especially by commercial growers, there is
risk of 'biting the hand that feeds us" for the plant breeders have less to
show, in terms of market impact and return on investment to their superiors,
who often are juggling multiple requests for land use on university research
farms. Fruit breeding programs require multiyear commitments to land and
time, and this needs to be continually justified.

Another model, used in England and elsewhere, is for multinational
ag companies to contract university or private breeders to develop superior
cultivars, which are then licensed solely to contracted growers, wholesalers
and restricted points of sale. If that model of fruit development and
marketing is not attractive, I suggest we encourage one another to honor
with $ those models which benefit us.
Case in point: When once I proposed to a nurseryman that I buy one each of
several new bramble introductions he offered, to trial them and then do
limited propagation of the one(s) that did best for personal use, he refused
to sell to me unless I agreed not to, for he knew the breeder and the
decades of effort he'd spent on these crops. Made a lasting impression on
me.
Richard Moyer
East Tenn



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