Very Interesting Ruth! I find it sort of scary. That Procter guy really took advantage of the system. I always though to get a plant patent, you had to breed your own plants, not find a plant/seed and do plant selection.
Remy

This story is a sign of the times. The patenting of lifeforms will only increase, now that such dangerous precedents have occurred. Apparently, no one in the U.S. Patent Office ever checks to see if plants already exist, before granting a patent - and with it, exclusive rights to plants with the trait in question.

There's another one here, about a Siegers Seed Company patent for warty pumpkins. They too are trying to retroactively remove all similar pre-existing varieties with "their" trait (warts) through the use of legal action. Note that it is the warts, not the varieties themselves, that were patented.

What comes next? Patents on winter squash, sweet corn, snap peas? This law should be abolished; food plants created by conventional breeding should be covered only under the PVP system, not utility patents. Nor should plant traits, not the varieties themselves, be patentable.

Both are patents, so what is the difference? You can legally grow, save, & possess PVP seed - as long as you don't sell it. You can even use PVP varieties to breed new varieties.

By comparison, seed patented as an "invention" may not even be possessed without license from the patent holder. We would not even be able to save our own seed legally, were someone to patent something we have already been growing for generations. Nor do "inventions" enjoy unrestricted access by breeder to develop better varieties.

(I would concede that the GMO's created by BioTech would qualify as inventions, since they created something which could not evolve naturally. However, if you grant this argument to be true - that a new life form was created - then the "substantially equivalent" ruling by the FDA for GM food crops has no validity.)

BioTech opened up this loophole, because it represents guaranteed profit. Now that the legal precedents have been set, the system is open to abuse from any & all comers. If the patenting of traits is allowed to continue, it's only a matter of time before the ability for us to grow our own food is taken away from us. Don't think it can't happen - it will happen, so long as greed is allowed to trump the public interest.

These patent laws, when challenged, are defended under the "we must reward those who will feed the world" argument. What a load of compost. Patented varieties are not feeding the world, except where they replaced existing varieties that were already doing so.

For some reason they were easy to buy here and now none of the stores carry them so maybe he actually put a stop or a dent to the importing. They are a very good tasting bean. Supposedly from the Peruano, Canario and the Azufrado...hope I spelled those right but I love pinto's and these are better than pintos. I saved some from a bag I bought last year to plant and never got around to planting them.

We saw and occasionally purchased yellow beans, everywhere we lived in Mexico for over 13 years. Most commonly they were called Peruano.

It is indeed a sad state of affairs when someone can patent this bean, when they did very little other than select from a sample brought home from Mexico to begin with!

Regarding GMO, I think any plant material sold, in the store, which is GMO ought to be labeled clearly, since they say it's illegal to grow it without paying royalties. They put people at potential risk if they should chose, for instance, to grow a potato from the grocery store or some corn from animal feed. My understanding is that at least 25% of store bought potatoes are now GMO and something like 75% of corn produced in our country.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Wait. Help me out here. I only buy organic or natural selection. I bought a bag of dried Mayocoba beans in Charlotte NC. Are you saying that they are GMO!? Goya brand. That is NOT good, there is a pot boiling on the stove now with vegan soup and those beans!

No, they are not GMO! Your beans are safe.

BTW, they revoked the bean patent because enough people complained.
Remy

I know it's been awhile since the original post but might as well jump in... :)

We've enjoyed cooking these beans for quite some time but I noticed the bean was available from a grower so I ordered a packet. I hope to grown them successfully this year (2015). From what I have seen reported, they are a half-runner bean, combining traits of both bush and pole beans. Supposedly they won't need trellising but we're going to grown them next to a fence so they can climb if they want to.

Would it not be possible to plant the ones you buy to eat? I have been enjoying these beans for a few years as well, but unfortunately have not had much luck with beans where I currently live--under a fog bank all summer.

Yes, Kristin, it should be easy to simply plant a couple seed from a purchased sack of these beans. Often, the germination rate from a purchased bag of grocery store beans, will be a bit low. But some will grow.

George

I have found Pereuano Mayocoba beans at Walmart. The brand is Verde Valle from Mexico. I buy up when I find them. I love them.

I just did a search and found Baker Creek has them at $3.50 for 20 seeds plus shipping. On EBay, I found 100 seeds for $5.90, including shipping (listed as a bush bean). I also found some on Amazon at $10 for 100 seeds including shipping.

The mayocoba bean patent by Larry Proctor has been rejected by the U.S. Patent Office when it was proven that the beans he was attempting to patent had been available for at least 100 years: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-04/bc-upo043008.php

RobinTurizo (above): Patents can be acquired for a NEW TYPE of plant, with certain conditions having been met. Most plant patents are issued on cloned starts of the new plants (apple trees, for example). SEEDS are rarely patented, except in the matter of GMO varieties.

At this point in time, there are NO GMO beans.

The Mayocoba beans I planted from seeds from WallMart are definitely not bush beans. They are at 8 feet and still climbing. Too bad; I was planning on bush shelly beans and was not prepared for pole beans at that location.

"Too bad; I was planning on bush shelly beans and was not prepared for pole beans at that location."

The silver lining is, you might get a lot more beans from those plants than you anticipated... which could be a good thing, if they are as flavorful as some have said. I have yet to try them myself, but if Wally World carries them, I should be able to find them locally.

For me, the pole habit would be a blessing, since I prefer pole beans in general. Who knows, my tastes may change when I retire not long from now... pounding 100+ fence poles each year for trellises isn't getting easier. ;-)

Those beans are the wrong shape and color to be mayocoba.

I agree with Fusion... the beans are too lima-like. If you still have any of the original seed, Shuffles, could you post a photo? Was the dry seed yellow?

I planted seed from a one pound bag labeled Mayocoba that I bought at WallMart. I already ate what I didn't plant. As I remember, the seeds were a buff yellow. Next time I got to WallMart, I'll take a photo. Maybe I got my planting records mixed up? I planted what I thought were Mayocoba twice - and both times got what is in the photo.

SO good to hear the bean patent was rejected! That makes every happy. I do like those beans.

That looks more like Mayocoba.