I totally agree..and i have to say i'm indifferent about the issue. But i feel awareness needs to be spread so that folks can educate themselves about it. Everyone knows the business world is a full of cheats, liars and dirty crooks. The cannabis industry is not immune to this. No matter how much we fantasize, glamorize or envision a world where cannabis genetics remain free and open source, that's not what will happen. If you can protect your work, why wouldn't you? That's why i think breeders should consider patents on their work. it's so that the breeders' work can be protected from companies like monsanto. If you don't patent your creations someone else WILL. If you have all the legalities it will mean you have the upper hand. But just because a patent is filed on a strain doesn't mean others cannot work with it. It's all up to the breeder.
Let's say company 'X' files patents for all their strains. They do have the power to stop individuals or groups from unauthorized use of their product. But will they?! the answer is: No. (in most cases). You will not see breeders saying "hey you can't clone my plants and share them, you can't pollinate crops and create seeds". You would see that happen if monsanto owned the patents ;). Most breeders would be proud if people were using their work for projects. With legal framework it just means that if anyone wants to sell or work with your gear they have to ask you, it's up to you what you want to do. IMO breeders would be accepting to others using their gear for personal and business ventures. Obviously there are some who will want compensation. I'm sure most breeders would say no problem make 10,000 clones of my plants share them, do what you will. But on the other hand take for example, a shop is selling 1,000 DJ short blueberry cuts a month. Now let's say there's 150 shops selling 1,000 DJ short blueberry cuts a month. That's a lot of money. With all the effort breeders put into acquiring the genetics and then breeding all the plants, it's only fair to imagine they would like a return on their work.. And that would all depend on whether or not they had the right legal framework in place.