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Fleming's Nurseries - "Zee Sweet" program
Radical amnesty bears fruit
A Victorian nursery is taking bold steps to ensure intellectual property rights, and the future of the industry, is protected.
In September last year, an unusual step was taken by a key player in Australia's nursery industry. Fleming's Nurseries declared a three-month amnesty to allow all growers of illegally propagated cultivars that were proprietary to Fleming's to come forward. The amnesty and associated audits resulted in declarations for more than 150,000 trees, including its popular Zee Sweet fruit cultivars.
"One company admitted to possession of over 45,000 trees," says Graham Fleming, a member of the auditing team. "I'm sure there are still many more to find."
Sweet success
Fleming's Nurseries, based in Monbulk in the Dandenong Ranges, began as a small family business in the 1940s. As a manager for owners of fruit varieties, it is now a key player in the Plant Breeder's Rights (PBR) system that ensures exclusive commercial rights to a registered plant. "We currently have exclusive rights to more than 1000 new varieties," Fleming says.
The Zee Sweet program was created by Graham's father Don to provide a sustainable revenue stream for breeders, giving them secure access to this range of cultivars and the right to supply the fruit to the Australian orchard industry. It is now used as a model for production-based royalty programs internationally.
It has not been an easy process, however."There have been many personal challenges for all of us involved," Graham Fleming says. "These commercial arrangements were a hard pill to swallow for many 'traditional' fruit growers that were not accustomed to production royalty programs. We went through an initial period of four years where we were continually reminding growers of the terms of their agreements and fending off their negativity."
Industry focus
Fleming's Nurseries believes protecting intellectual property rights associated with proprietary plant material is fundamental to the integrity and long-term viability of the nursery industry.Acknowledging the role of PBR in protecting future development of improved varieties for consumers and growers, Fleming anticipates strong growth for his nursery and the Zee Sweet program.
"We are continually looking at updating our product range with new varieties for this evolving market," he says.
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