At this point, I believe they’re only patenting their modified seeds. It still kind of creeps me out that they can sue people for harvesting seeds from plants grown with their seeds. I suppose it makes sense if the company spent a lot of money developing the seeds, they don’t want others to grow and sell the resulting seeds. If they’re just saving the seeds for their own use, I don’t see it as such a big deal. If I remember correctly, in one of the cases, they tested the seeds a farmer saved to see if it was genetically related to their seed. It was, and they sued him. I wonder what would happen if the genetically modified seeds cross pollinated with a farmer’s heirloom seed. Would the resulting seed be considered patented or would the farmer be entitled to use it? If not, that’s scary. I don’t have much understanding of the law in this area.
I have been saving my own seeds from heirloom veggies I grow for the last couple years. I like to think I have the ability to be self reliant should the seed supply ever dwindle or become unavailable. It is a fascinating process, and really a lot of fun. Also, you can save dry seeds in your freezer for years to preserve their viability longer.
I really like Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds and Sand Hill Preservation. I haven’t actually purchased anything from Seed Savers, but I plan to check it out this year.
As long as the patent is in force, it is illegal to "save seeds" from the modified plants. It is only legal to use seed from the patent holder. But what you absolutely MUST remember is that a patent (unlike copyright*) is NOT "forever". A US Patent only gives monopoly rights for 25 years, after which anybody can produce identical products, or save seeds, or whatever they like.
*And yes, I know that copyright also isn't "really" forever, but the term is so long that it might as well be (author's life plus 75 years---which is ridiculous).