The recent discussions of "Royal Red" and PVR make me wonder if the CP
world has grown to the point where we need to consider how commercial
plant varieties in general have been dealt with. My raspberry plants
are protected by a United States Plant Patent to a US Nursery. Under
this patent I cannot raise and sell this raspberry plant variety, but
I can raise plants and sell the fruit. I'm really not sure how the
PVR is substantially different from a Plant Patent. As we get farther
away from the need to field collect plants/seeds, more unique
varieties/hybrids will crop up and growers *may* want to protect their
commercial interests. If next a varigated Nepenthes hit the market,
at a reasonable price, under a plant patent, would it cause a similar
fuss? Are our interests in plant conservation best served by making
commercial CP ventures any more risky than they already are?
Personally, I'm a little pleased that there is such interest in a
mutant which, to my knowledge, has not actually been seen in the
*wild*.
Waiting to be corrected ;-) ,
Jeff