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What good is copyright/trademark on a pepper type like brainstrain?

J

JesterJoker

What good is copyright/trademark on a pepper type like brainstrain? is this supposed to stop people from selling it as that name?

I see Judy selling them with the name, and a guy on ebay selling them. So what good is the copyright?
 
First off, a thing "is" what it is. If seeds came from, say, a Kumato tomatoe, then the resulting plants and fruits are Kumatos. Similarly, if seeds came from a brain strain, they "are" brain strain seeds. So the question is not the name, but whether an individual has rights to sell and make a profit from it, or even trade it. If the person traded/purchased pods/plant/seeds with an express agreement not to sell or make a profit from them, then clearly he or she has no right to do otherwise. On the other hand, if the person purchased the item(s) without such an agreement, whatever they do with the resulting fruits/seeds is their business.
 
geeme said:
First off, a thing "is" what it is. If seeds came from, say, a Kumato tomatoe, then the resulting plants and fruits are Kumatos. Similarly, if seeds came from a brain strain, they "are" brain strain seeds. So the question is not the name, but whether an individual has rights to sell and make a profit from it, or even trade it. If the person traded/purchased pods/plant/seeds with an express agreement not to sell or make a profit from them, then clearly he or she has no right to do otherwise. On the other hand, if the person purchased the item(s) without such an agreement, whatever they do with the resulting fruits/seeds is their business.
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I have seen CCN forbid the resale of their Red Savinas. They said that they are either Copyrighted, owned, TMd, or something that means that they control the rights to that (Record Holder) strand. As a result, I have seen other people sell red svinas and red svainas, etc. Dont know if its legal, but they do/did it.

Edit. Just pulled this directly from their site:

HABANERO RED SAVINA ™ - extremely hot; Habanero Type; 1.5 to 2.5 inches long by 1 to 1.5 inches wide; medium thick flesh; matures from green to red; pendant pods; green leaves; 24 to 30 inches tall; Very Late Season; **Cross Country Nurseries is a licensed grower of the Red Savina ™ Habanero (PVP 9200255). Transplants are provided for the home gardener. Seeds from these peppers can not be legally saved to sell to others. You must plan to use these peppers for your own use.; C.chinense.
 
companies with bucks in their pockets are patenting naturally occuring genes, and claiming that they only existed in their product... Doesn't necessarily have anything to do with genetic engineering, just filing paperwork, hiring lawyers, paying judges, and congressmen.
 
Plant breeders' rights are a type of intellectual property, and in the US, it works a lot like a patent. If you come up with a new and unique stable variety (or hybrid), you can register it with the USDA, and retain exclusive rights for 20 years. The idea is to encourage people to develop improved strains (drought resistance, disease resistance, salt tolerance, etc...) by giving folks an incentive to do the hard work to make it happen. It's generally an arrangement that works *reasonably* well for protecting field crops and ornamentals... but I have a hard time seeing the sense in doing this with a variety of peppers with limited market value. Enforcement wouldn't be practical.
 
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