Anyway, the "copyright" for this plant has absolutely no influence of
the trade of this plant in any other country. First of all it should be
clear if the plant was patented or if it was protected as a new variety.
I only can talk about the system of Plant Variety Rights in Europe,
especially in Germany. The law was created to protect new varieties of
plants by an intellectual property right. Generally it is not possible
to protect a species or mutation of a species which has already occured
in nature. But if you have found a mutation of a plant and the mutation
did not have happened long before, there will be only a few plants.
Then it will be quite difficult to prove that this mutation has taken
place in nature and was not the fact of breeding. The market of
ornamental plants is very hard and you, as a plant breeder, you can only
profit of your work of plant breeding, if your work will be protected.
Which are the conditions of protection? The new variety can only be
protected after the examination of the National Office for Plant
Varieties has proved the novelty, distincness, uniformity, stability of
the new variety. Concerning ornamental plants, if the plants of the new
variety is propagated by means like tissu culture, there will be no
problem that the plants are uniform and stable. Concerning the red VFT,
you could only protect this new variety in Germany when the examination
of the National Office for Plant Varieties have revealed this plants as
a new variety which has not been protected before. They will not prove,
if the plants originally are found in nature, even when the plants are
origin of another continent. When the new variety is protected in
Germany nobody has now the right to propagate and sell the plants
without permission of the original breeder for 15 years. Afterwards
everyone can propagate the variety without permission. It is not
forbidden to use plants of a protected variety for the purpose of own
breeding activities. This is similar to all other countries of the
European Communities. There is no patent possible for plants in Europe
like for other inventions. But if there is anyone which is going to
propagate and sell your protected variety it has to be you to prove it
and it must be you to demand for pay of compensation by a court.
Oliver