RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2010 – Streptocarpus ‘Harlequin Blue’

Plants For TheFuture

conception tocommerce

A guide tobringing newplants to market

rhs.org.uk/plantsforthefuture

Registered Charity No: 222879/SC038262

RHS Garden Wisley, Woking, Surrey, GU23 6QB

Satisfaction To gain a reputation and respect from other horticulturists; the pleasure ofknowing others are enjoying your plant

Making moneyThis is going to be your main occupation, or you want to generateincome or receive a one-off payment

‘Vanity’ or sentimentThe plant is named after you or someone close to you

Your motives may be a combination of the above

Stage 1: Your motivesIt is essential to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve as this is key to choosing the correct path

RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2016 – Clematis chiisanensis AMBER (‘Wit141205’)

Stage 2: Your new plantOnce you have selected your sport, seedling or new plant

It is vital to carefully record plantinformation (visual and written) in a clear,understandable format. Failure to do thismay be a barrier to taking a plant forwardto commercial cultivation

Document why your plant is new ordifferent, and the significance of thesequalities in the marketplace

Until you have clear plans on how tomarket/release your plant and haveprotected your rights, do not release anyplant material or publish pictures to anysource (either by selling or giving away)or put your plant on public display

RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2015 – Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum KILIMANJARO SUNRISE (‘JWW5’)

Stage 3: Your skillsTaking a new plant to market can be time-consuming,expensive, fun and rewarding! Having identified yourmotives in Stage 1, you need to decide whether youhave the necessary skills and resources to achieve thisprocess alone, or whether you will need help

Considering the questions below may helpyou choose the right route. These optionsare not exhaustive and the pros and cons ofeach should be considered very carefully:

Do you want to generate futureincome or are happy with a one-off payment?Future income: The Partner or Go-it-alone route may be right for you

One-off payment: the Sell route may beright for you

Are you happy just to know your plant is ‘out there’ but don’t want to be greatly involved in the process?Yes: The Sell route may be right for you

No: I want some involvement, then thePartner or Go-it-alone route may be rightfor you

Do you want to retain rights to your plant?No: The Sell route may be right for you

Yes: The Partner or Go-it-alone may beright for you

Do you have the time and enthusiasm for complexadministrative work as well as, the knowledge, time and space forcultivation of your plant?Yes to all: The Go-it-alone route may beright for you

No to some: The Partner route may beright for you

Do you want to be involved in decision making about marketing and selling your plant?No: The Sell route may be right for you

Yes: But I don’t want to take on theadmin work, then the Partner route maybe right for you

Are you new to the process, butwould like to be involved and learn more?Yes: The Partner route may be right foryou

RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2014 – Hydrangea macrophylla MISS SAORI (‘H20-2’)

Stage 4: Routes to marketHere are the three main routes to market

Sell: For a fixed fee to a Partnerorganisation (see glossary for types ofpartner. They do all the work, but you nolonger have rights to the plant or any futureincome

Partner: Enter into a partnership with areputable partner (see glossary for types ofpartner). Agree terms and work together formutual benefit

Go-it-alone: Make all your own decisions,do all the admin, cultivation, marketing &selling and reap all the rewards

RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2013 – Mahonia eurybracteata subsp. ganpinensis 'Soft Caress'

Stage 5: Which route?Match the route to market to your motives and skillset

Good optionwith no risk

& fixedreward

Plantbelongsto buyer

Sell

Many skillsrequired but

potentialhigh reward

No PBR

PBR

Go italone

Combineskills

=shared risk& reward

Contractformed

Partner

Can transferto partnership

RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2012 – Digitalis ILLUMINATION PINK (‘Tmdgfp001’)

Glossary of terms

Fixing: This can take many yearsand is the process by which youensure a plant can bereproduced whilst keeping all thecharacteristics of the originalplant. Sometimes this may onlybe possible through plantmaterial cutting, not seed.

Nagoya Protocol: for the latestupdate from the RHS pleasefollow the links from the Plantsfor the Future website.

New plant: a plant created bymaking a deliberate cross, or achance sport or seedling.

Partner/Partnership:A partner can be a plantbreeders’ agent, wholesaler,nursery, seed company,marketing company orconsultant who will work withyou for an agreed fee or a shareof royalty income to help bringyour new plant to market.

Plant Breeders’ Agent (PBA):A PBA will work on your behalf tomake an expert assessment ofthe market, promote the plantand negotiate for you. They mayalso, depending on the terms ofyour contract, apply for

intellectual property rights andcarry out administrative work onyour behalf. It will depend onthe agreed terms, but in mostcases you will retain ownershipof the plant variety.

Intellectual property rights’covers UK Plant Variety Rights,EU Plant Variety Rights, US PlantPatents, rights in other countriesand even trademarks and utilitypatents.

Plant Variety Rights(sometimes called PlantBreeder’s Rights): A form ofintellectual property right thatwill give the variety ownerexclusivity over the marketing,sale and propagation of a newvariety (including harvestedmaterial such as fruit or cutflowers) for a number of years.Intellectual property rights mustbe obtained for your new plantif you intend to protect potentialincome. Generally, allapplications for rights must bemade within 365 days of thefirst offer for sale or othercommercial exploitation –although this may differ outsidethe UK & EU. Of particular noteare the rules in the US, which

RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2011 – Anemone WILD SWAN (‘Macane001’)

RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2010 – Streptocarpus ‘Harlequin Blue’

state that the ‘clock’ for PlantPatent applications starts tickingwhen the variety first becomespublic knowledge, even if it isnot available to buy.

These include: UK PlantBreeders Rights (PBR)administered by PVRO;European Community PlantVariety Rights (CPVRs)administered by CPVO; UnitedStates Plant Patentsadministered by USPTO. Detailsof these bodies can be found onthe PFTF Website.

The term ‘plant variety rights’ isoften the preferred term becausethe right is in the variety anddoes not necessarily belong tothe breeder (for example, it maybelong to the breeder’s employerif they did the breeding as partof their contracted work at anursery; the right may have beensold to a third party who hadnothing to do with the originalbreeding; or the right may havepassed to another person underthe terms of a will).

If you select the ‘Sell’ or ‘Go ItAlone’ route you may have tomanage this aspect yourself, a

partner, especially a PlantBreeders’ Agent will usuallymanage this for you.

Plant Registration: Theprocess by which you name andrecord ownership of your newplants. See the website for moreinformation on InternationalCultivar Registration Authorities(ICRAs).

Note that registering a plantwith an ICRA confers nointellectual property right anddoes not permit you to collect aroyalty. It may also ‘start theclock’ for application forintellectual property rights.

Sport: A sport is a naturallyoccurring genetic mutation ofan existing plant. It will need tobe ‘fixed’ before it becomesviable to market.

Please be aware that any rightsto a ‘sport’ occurring from analready protected plant maywell belong to the originalbreeder or owner of the rights tothe parent plant – the exactterms will depend on the partiesinvolved.

What’s next?

If you have bred a new plant, follow the roadmap to choose your best route to market

Have a look at the main points in Stage 3 to help you decide your best route

Talk to other amateur plant breeders to see what they are doing and how they do it

Join a plant society and share in the wealth of knowledge you will find there –many hold regular exhibitions and mostamateur breeders belong to one or manyplant societies

Find out more about the Plants for theFuture initiative at rhs.org.uk/plantsforthefuture where there are detailsof future events, guidance and links tohelpful information

rhs.org.uk/plantsforthefuture

All information contained in this document, as well as at rhs.org.uk/plantsforthefuture isintended for guidance only. You are responsible for ensuring the intellectual propertyrights of your plant are protected, and that you choose the route to market which bestsuits your circumstances

Registered Charity No: 222879/SC038262

RHS Garden Wisley, Woking, Surrey, GU23 6QB