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posted by LaminatorX on Tuesday November 25 2014, @01:33AM   Printer-friendly
from the share-alike dept.

OpenSource.com reports

Jim Myers, professor of genetics at Oregon State University--and before him, breeder Jim Baggett--have, since 1966, worked to

breed a broccoli with an "exserted" head, which meant that instead of nestling in the leaves the crown would protrude on a long stalk, making harvest easier.

[...]Baggett had used versions of another broccoli called Waltham, released by the University of Massachusetts in the 1950s, as part of the foundation for his original exserted-head lines. Hoping to advance its evolution by letting others work on it, he and Myers shared their germplasm (an industry term for seed) with breeders throughout the United States.

One recipient was the broccoli division of Royal Sluis, a Dutch company that had a research farm in Salinas, California. Through the channels of corporate consolidation, that germplasm ended up with the world's largest vegetable-seed company, Seminis, which in 2005 was bought by the world's largest seed company, Monsanto.

In 2011, Seminis was granted US Patent 8,030,549--"Broccoli adapted for ease of harvest"--whose basic identifying characteristic was an exserted head. More than a third of the original plant material behind the invention was germplasm that Baggett had shared in 1983.

[...]What infuriates Myers, though, is that patents such as the one Seminis is seeking don't just impede sharing; they deter others from using their own germplasm. As the examiner noted, Seminis's patent application claims essentially all broccoli with an exserted head of a commercial size. If Myers's plants are too similar to those grown by Seminis, he won't be able to release his own variety for fear of patent infringement. Even if he did, no farmer or seed company would use it lest they be sued for the same violation.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Tuesday November 25 2014, @01:51AM

    by Jeremiah Cornelius (2785) on Tuesday November 25 2014, @01:51AM (#119640) Journal

    We need a "GPL of Things".

    --
    You're betting on the pantomime horse...
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:41AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:41AM (#119691)

      My original dept.line was
      from the using-a-permissive-license-screws-the-pooch dept. [soylentnews.org]

      -- gewg_

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @06:31AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @06:31AM (#119716)

      Janet Hope has written some on the topic of open source models in plant breeding and biotech.

      http://opensourcebiotech.anu.edu.au/Open_Source_Biotechnology/Author.html [anu.edu.au]

      http://books.google.com/books/about/Biobazaar.html?id=d2-PAAAAMAAJ [google.com]

    • (Score: 2) by Foobar Bazbot on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:43PM

      by Foobar Bazbot (37) on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:43PM (#119847) Journal

      I don't see how that matters -- the problem here is that Seminis is seeking* a patent covering "essentially all broccoli with an exserted head of a commercial size", including those already bred by Baggett and Myers, and this patent issue seems orthogonal to the permissive vs. copy-left argument.

      A less-permissive license (presumably something along the lines of "if you distribute seeds/plants descended from this line to others, you must do so under the same license terms") doesn't actually fix that -- in such a case, Seminis would still be able to do their own breeding program, arrive at the same functionality, and file for essentially the same patent they are now seeking, which would have the same effect of covering Baggett and Myers's work. (But there's no guarantee they receive such a patent, either in reality or in the copyleft scenario; see below.)

      OTOH, if you take away the ability to receive such a patent (again, supposing it exists; see below), using a permissive license doesn't cause the claimed situation -- it would be perfectly ok, somewhat less bad, or somewhere in between (depending who you ask) if Seminis developed their own version from Baggett's seed and sells it with restrictions, because they would have no way to prevent Myers from releasing his own varieties, or farmers from growing Myers's varieties. Of course the usual pro-/anti-copyleft arguments we've seen in every GPL/BSD flamewar still apply -- ideologically, some will say that there's no problem at all, because what restrictions Seminis puts on their variety are their own business; some will say there is a problem, because [copyleft argument here -- I don't trust myself to summarize this view without turning it into a straw man]; some will say the whole argument is irrelevant, because nobody else should be able to restrict what I do with plants that I grow myself, and if we fixed that, none of these licenses would be particularly enforceable. (My position is most nearly the latter.) And that's not even touching the practical issues, e.g. license compatibility.

       

      *The summary is misleading scaremongery; it excises context to imply that a ridiculously broad patent (covering all exserted head broccoli) is already granted; in fact, a much narrower patent was granted in 2011, and the overly broad patent application is already rejected. The first four paragraphs of the quote discuss US8030549 [google.com], which only claims broccoli from specific lines developed by Seminis. The fifth paragraph discusses a different patent application, which claimed only the traits themselves without regard to the plants' ancestry, and this application received a "final rejection" (which is of course being appealed).

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Tuesday November 25 2014, @05:13PM

        by Jeremiah Cornelius (2785) on Tuesday November 25 2014, @05:13PM (#119859) Journal

        I think corporate persons should be subject to real person punishments. Monsanto should have license to commit fraud revoked.

         

        Actually, they should be listed as a terrorist organization...

        --
        You're betting on the pantomime horse...
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @02:04AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @02:04AM (#119645)

    He should get the patent overturned. It isn't that difficult:
    http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2013/07/22.html [joelonsoftware.com]
    http://patents.stackexchange.com/ [stackexchange.com]

  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @03:12AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @03:12AM (#119663)

    Just over two months ago, the topic of the Ferguson incident was discussed here at SoylentNews [soylentnews.org].

    It was a very heated discussion. But in hindsight, we can now see that some people were correct, and some people were wrong.

    Those who defended Brown were clearly in the wrong. The physical and testimonial evidence presented to the Missouri grand jury proves this.

    Based on what was said during the recent announcement regarding the grand jury's findings, Brown did rob the convenience store. Brown was walking down the center of a street, disrupting traffic. Brown did attack the armed police officer, who had to defend himself against this brutal attack.

    It is important for us, as members of the SoylentNews community, to revisit our past discussion about this issue. This is how we will learn and grow.

    Those who questioned Brown's innocence in this matter have been proven to have been correct.

    Those who defended Brown, including notable SoylentNews members such as mcgrew, Tork, Phoenix666, and Thexalon, have been proven to have been wrong.

    We should not fault them for being wrong in this case. Naïvety and an inability to face painful truths can affect us all.

    But we should never forget how badly some SoylentNews members were treated merely because they dared express the truthful nature of this sad incident. They were admonished and ridiculed; they were incorrectly labeled as "racists". Yet these victims of disdain were absolutely correct in their analysis of Brown's role in this incident.

    It is a shameful day when those who are in the right, and obviously so, are treated with such disrespect. Let us hope that never again happens here.

    • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Pav on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:09AM

      by Pav (114) on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:09AM (#119678)

      OT, and I didn't take part in the original discussion, but...

          Anyone expressing an opinion outside a jury box is in some ways out of line, but this is an imperfect world and these things happen. There are laws in many countries carefully controlling what can be discussed until a defendant sees his day in court for this reason. I don't see how guessing right in this instance can give anyone a "righteous sheen", and as for the race riots, I can't see this verdict invalidating them happening. For instance, if a constantly-picked-on school kid finally snaps over a spider in his bag that noone actually put in there is he wrong and way out of line? I know how race profiling works in my own country, and is it actually true that a white highschool dropout in the US earns more on average than a black student who successfully completes college?

      • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:19AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:19AM (#119682)

        I know how race profiling works in my own country, and is it actually true that a white highschool dropout in the US earns more on average than a black student who successfully completes college?

        I'm not sure where you heard that, but that's not the case at all in America.

        A black who does well in college with a reasonably useful degree (math, science, engineering, etc.) with easily earn much, much more than the average white high school dropout.

        There are, of course, a small number of cases where this isn't true. There are white high school dropouts who started, say, a landscaping business and became very successful. And there are cases of blacks who graduated with a totally useless college degree and got nowhere in life. But on average, any college graduate will make a lot more money than any high school dropout, regardless of race.

        • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by Pav on Tuesday November 25 2014, @06:30AM

          by Pav (114) on Tuesday November 25 2014, @06:30AM (#119715)

          Did a quick Google and found a number of articles like this [huffingtonpost.com].

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @07:26AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @07:26AM (#119721)

            "That information has caused me to completely reconsider my understanding of the world."

            --something the original AC will never say

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @12:41PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @12:41PM (#119759)

            I don't consider the Huffington Post to be a reliable source of information. There's reality, and then there's what Huffington Post says.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @08:34PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @08:34PM (#119912)

              The article contains links to all of the source data from the Federal Reserve.
              You are encouraged to investigate it on your own without reading a single word from huffpo.
              But you won't because that would require you to examine your biases and realize your error and that would shatter your self-image.
              So easier to just deny reality and continue feeling superior. Enjoy being old and set in your ways, your life is all downhill from here.

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:33AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:33AM (#119688)

      The "justice" system is a messy, imprecise construct.

      That said,

      New York State chief judge Sol Wachtler was famously quoted by Tom Wolfe in The Bonfire of the Vanities that "a grand jury would 'indict a ham sandwich', if that's what you wanted".

      The Ferguson prosecuter's father was a white cop killed by a black guy.
      He should have recused himself--but he instead insisted on getting the result he desired.

      The only thing this series of events has proven is that Missouri remains deeply racist.
      We're still stuck at "A black man has no rights that a white man is bound to respect". (Dred Scott SCOTUS decision, 1854)

      -- gewg_

      • (Score: -1) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:39AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @04:39AM (#119689)

        Oh, gewg_. It's always excuses, excuses, excuses and denial from you!

        • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @07:23AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @07:23AM (#119720)

          > Oh, gewg_. It's always excuses, excuses, excuses and denial from you!

          Right back at you AC.
          At least when gewg does it, he has coherent and logically consistent explanation. You on the other hand revel in half-truths and when those don't work out, it is just bald-faced excuses and denials.

          • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @10:50PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @10:50PM (#119951)

            You forgot to sign your comment with "-- gewg_", like you usually do.

      • (Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday November 25 2014, @07:30PM

        by Arik (4543) on Tuesday November 25 2014, @07:30PM (#119895) Journal
        "New York State chief judge Sol Wachtler was famously quoted by Tom Wolfe in The Bonfire of the Vanities that "a grand jury would 'indict a ham sandwich', if that's what you wanted"."

        A close family member, now departed, was a district attorney and said the same thing. A grand jury is NOT a trial jury, it does not hear from both sides, it hears only what the prosecutor wants it to hear and hears nothing he does not want it to hear. The grand jury is not to determine guilt or innocence, only to determine if there are reasonable grounds to indict and go to trial, on the basis of an entirely one-sided presentation from the prosecutor.

        This prosecutor was undercutting his own case at every step of the way. He was not seeking an indictment. He was going through the motions to get the answer he wanted from the grand jury, so now he can disingenuously claim that he tried, and it was the grand jury that shot him down.

        What are people supposed to do? Obviously rioting and looting is stupid, but what would you have these people do instead? We expect people to behave and let the law work on the assumption that law will indeed work. The law is not working here. It's been completely sabotaged by the fact that the individuals sworn to uphold it have no intention whatsoever of keeping their oath. A young man was murdered, in cold blood, on a public street, and his killer wont even be tried. His community cries out for justice, and instead they get the likes of Mr McCulloch abusing their powers to obstruct, rather than seek, justice. They are american citizens in their native land, but they are 'policed' as if they were a subject people under military occupation.

        Just how long do you think human beings can be held under such circumstances before something snaps?
        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
    • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @02:42PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @02:42PM (#119800)

      It is important for us, as members of the SoylentNews community, to revisit our past discussion about this issue.

      Then submit a new story for us to comment on instead of cluttering up an unrelated one.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @02:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 25 2014, @02:13PM (#119789)

    Anyone know of patent-fighting ACLU type organization that can fight things like this in a Myriad Genetics way?