[jdhzzz]

From the site:

Can I propagate or breed the Firefly Petunias? Our Firefly Petunias are protected under patent, and as such, propagation and breeding are not permitted. These petunias are sold exclusively for personal use.

Propagation IS permitted as long as it's for personal use so your scenario is fine. Selling a propagated plant to your neighbor (or anyone else) violates the law.

[jijijijij]

> Propagation IS permitted as long as it's for personal use so your scenario is fine.

How do you come to this conclusion from the FAQ answer above?

[Reubachi]

Easy; "Our Firefly Petunias are PROTECTED UNDER PATENT, and as such, propagation and breeding are not permitted. These petunias are sold exclusively for personal use."

Patent protection is soley for protection from commercial use by non patent holders. This is why they put in the last line.

Patent protection does not stop me from building an equivalent of any item protected by patent. I cannot sell it commercially.

[roarcher]

> Patent protection does not stop me from building an equivalent of any item protected by patent.

Legally it does, at least in the United States. That said, I doubt this company will search your backyard in the middle of the night to make sure you don't have more glowing petunias than you ordered from their website.

[jijijijij]

> Legally it does

Yeah, that's my impression of patent laws, too. It's not some weird open source license, where you are only prohibited from commercial use. I remember advocates of patents telling me how it's better than keeping inventions secret, but I think in practice, there really isn't much of a difference... The whole thing needs an overhaul.

> That said, I doubt this company will search your backyard in the middle of the night to make sure you don't have more glowing petunias than you ordered from their website.

You read this take all over the thread, but I really think we shouldn't argue like that, when discussing law. Thing is, if the company really wanted to, they could cause legal trouble, which means you are vulnerable to them - which shifts the power balance between civil entities. Somewhat similar to e.g. drug criminalization. You likely get away with minor possession, but if the police officer doesn't like you, you may suffer severe consequences still. For example, if you were to publicly criticize the company for whatever reason, you may have to make sure to not (ever) post pictures of your glowing garden publicly.

These legal vulnerabilities add up and may in total change your behavior subtly so people in power do not not like you. If you want to form a union, protest against the police, are black/gay/..., or want to publish dirt on your local politician, you better make sure you didn't take too many cuttings from glowing petunias somewhere.

[jdhzzz]

I stand corrected, I believe they could get an injunction to prevent me from propagating the petunias (currently on order!), but likely wouldn't be worth the trouble.