red vft

Barry Meyers-Rice (barry@as.arizona.edu)
Wed, 20 Apr 94 10:11:25 MST

>If this included inhibition of trade and breeding with the protected
>cultivar, here is my tip: try the "nomenclatural" solution, i.e. throw away
>the label, repot the plant, name it _D.muscipula_, and continue job as
>usual. Nobody (not even Mr. Geoffrey Mansell himself) will be able to prove
>that your plant is actually *a clone* of the cultivar (only clones do
>belong to it!).

Jan,

I read an ACPS Bulletin article our esteemed email colleague Terry
Bertozzi wrote about PVRs (Plant Variety Rights) and how they are
interpreted in Australia. I was struck by the fact that the regulations
deal with special plant characteristics, in this case the red colouration,
and not just a single plant clone. So if Mansell gets PVRs for the all-red
VFT, his PVR will extend to every all-red VFT, even ones that are still
in the field.

With the advent of genetic engineering, there are some interesting legal
precedents being set in the US regarding patenting food crops that have
a lot of people upset.

Usually ``all-red'' refers to a VFT with a fully-red trap. Is this what
Mansell is talking about? Or is there a plant in Australia with red
petioles and inflorescence?

Barry