Plant Breeder's Rights for rose growers
The plant: Pink Iceberg rose
When rosarian Lilia Weatherly noticed a pink mutation on one of her White Iceberg rose bushes, she knew it was special. White Iceberg is the world's biggest selling rose, and there had never been mutations of it from which to develop pink and other coloured varieties.
Putting PBR in place
Several years later, she sent the mutation away to a nursery to be propagated further. However, she says, 'I knew enough to try to protect my rights in it before letting any bud wood go off my property, so I started to put plant breeder's rights in place'.
To facilitate the application process, she became a PBR Office approved non-consultant qualified person:
'Each year my daughter, Candace, and I attend the PBR workshop. Usually, each year, two staff members from the PBR office visit each Australian State and Territory and go through the requirements we need to fulfill. To satisfy these criteria, we must choose comparators, plants which are similar, but whose differences we can show by descriptions and detailed measurements and photographs. We must plant the rose in a test bed with the comparators so that we can demonstrate the differences under the same conditions'.
From PBR to business
When the initial 'acceptance' of Pink Iceberg was published, several nurseries approached Lilia Weatherly, wanting to market Pink Iceberg. She established an agency relationship with one in New South Wales.
The discovery and protection of Pink Iceberg rapidly transformed what was essentially a hobby into a successful hybridising business. Lilia Weatherly now devotes much of her time to developing new hybrids. Pink Iceberg has sported to create Brilliant Pink Iceberg, which has, in turn, sported to Burgundy Iceberg. These sports are protected under PBR too.
IP protection in other markets
Lilia Weatherly has also protected her IP under similar systems in South Africa, the UK, New Zealand and Europe.
The system in the United States is different. There the company name, Prophyl, is trade marked and the tissue is patented under a code name. Trade marking is a cheaper option but it protects only the name, not the tissue.
The value of plant breeder's rights
The PBR system enables Lilia Weatherly's family company to receive royalties on Pink Iceberg for 20 years. She says: 'Without PBR protection, unscrupulous commercial propagators would have fleeced us of our new varieties and undermined our success'.
Last Updated: 24/12/2012
