Can you sell seeds without a license?

You may sell any seeds without a license of any kind, unless there is a copyright or patent on the plant that holds its properties if grown from seed, or unless the laws in your area make possession or sale of a certain kind of seed illegal.*

The good news is that most plants with copyrights cannot be reproduced exactly from seed. This is because many are grown from cuttings, so are cloned, and can be copyrighted or patented. If these same cutting-grown plants produced seed from which seedlings were grown, most likely the properties of the plant that were copyrighted or patented would be lost. This is due to the fact that the plants from seed will more than likely revert back to the original species, and lose the distinguishing characteristics of the cultivar. Examples of this type of cutting-grown cultivar include special types of Japanese maples such as the world's rarest cultivar called "Ryusen" which is licensed in limited quantities. Another example is the "Golden Delicious" Apple.

Examples of plants that are sold as seed and patented or copyrighted are crops such as grains or legumes. Soybeans and wheat are good examples of commonly copyrighted or patented plants grown from seed.

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* Check with your local law enforcement or consult with your attorney if you have questions about the legality of the sale or possession of particular types of seeds.