2013 US Code
Title 7 - Agriculture
Chapter 57 - PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION (§§ 2321 - 2583)
Subchapter II - PROTECTABILITY OF PLANT VARIETIES AND CERTIFICATES OF PROTECTION (§§ 2401 - 2504)
Part D - Protectability of Plant Varieties (§§ 2401 - 2404)
Section 2401 - Definitions and rules of construction
Publication Title | United States Code, 2012 Edition, Supplement 1, Title 7 - AGRICULTURE |
Category | Bills and Statutes |
Collection | United States Code |
SuDoc Class Number | Y 1.2/5: |
Contained Within | Title 7 - AGRICULTURE CHAPTER 57 - PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION SUBCHAPTER II - PROTECTABILITY OF PLANT VARIETIES AND CERTIFICATES OF PROTECTION Part D - Protectability of Plant Varieties Sec. 2401 - Definitions and rules of construction |
Contains | section 2401 |
Date | 2013 |
Laws in Effect as of Date | January 16, 2014 |
Positive Law | No |
Disposition | standard |
Source Credit | Pub. L. 91-577, title II, §41, Dec. 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 1546; Pub. L. 103-349, §2, Oct. 6, 1994, 108 Stat. 3136. |
Statutes at Large References | 84 Stat. 1546 108 Stat. 3136, 3144, 3145 |
Public Law References | Public Law 91-577, Public Law 103-349 |
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As used in this chapter:
(1) Basic seedThe term "basic seed" means the seed planted to produce certified or commercial seed.
(2) BreederThe term "breeder" means the person who directs the final breeding creating a variety or who discovers and develops a variety. If the actions are conducted by an agent on behalf of a principal, the principal, rather than the agent, shall be considered the breeder. The term does not include a person who redevelops or rediscovers a variety the existence of which is publicly known or a matter of common knowledge.
(3) Essentially derived variety (A) In generalThe term "essentially derived variety" means a variety that—
(i) is predominantly derived from another variety (referred to in this paragraph as the "initial variety") or from a variety that is predominantly derived from the initial variety, while retaining the expression of the essential characteristics that result from the genotype or combination of genotypes of the initial variety;
(ii) is clearly distinguishable from the initial variety; and
(iii) except for differences that result from the act of derivation, conforms to the initial variety in the expression of the essential characteristics that result from the genotype or combination of genotypes of the initial variety.
(B) MethodsAn essentially derived variety may be obtained by the selection of a natural or induced mutant or of a somaclonal variant, the selection of a variant individual from plants of the initial variety, backcrossing, transformation by genetic engineering, or other method.
(4) KindThe term "kind" means one or more related species or subspecies singly or collectively known by one common name, such as soybean, flax, or radish.
(5) SeedThe term "seed", with respect to a tuber propagated variety, means the tuber or the part of the tuber used for propagation.
(6) Sexually reproducedThe term "sexually reproduced" includes any production of a variety by seed, but does not include the production of a variety by tuber propagation.
(7) Tuber propagatedThe term "tuber propagated" means propagated by a tuber or a part of a tuber.
(8) United StatesThe terms "United States" and "this country" mean the United States, the territories and possessions of the United States, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(9) VarietyThe term "variety" means a plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank, that, without regard to whether the conditions for plant variety protection are fully met, can be defined by the expression of the characteristics resulting from a given genotype or combination of genotypes, distinguished from any other plant grouping by the expression of at least one characteristic and considered as a unit with regard to the suitability of the plant grouping for being propagated unchanged. A variety may be represented by seed, transplants, plants, tubers, tissue culture plantlets, and other matter.
(b) Rules of constructionFor the purposes of this chapter:
(1) Sale or disposition for nonreproductive purposesThe sale or disposition, for other than reproductive purposes, of harvested material produced as a result of experimentation or testing of a variety to ascertain the characteristics of the variety, or as a by-product of increasing a variety, shall not be considered to be a sale or disposition for purposes of exploitation of the variety.
(2) Sale or disposition for reproductive purposesThe sale or disposition of a variety for reproductive purposes shall not be considered to be a sale or disposition for the purposes of exploitation of the variety if the sale or disposition is done as an integral part of a program of experimentation or testing to ascertain the characteristics of the variety, or to increase the variety on behalf of the breeder or the successor in interest of the breeder.
(3) Sale or disposition of hybrid seedThe sale or disposition of hybrid seed shall be considered to be a sale or disposition of harvested material of the varieties from which the seed was produced.
(4) Application for protection or entering into a register of varietiesThe filing of an application for the protection or for the entering of a variety in an official register of varieties, in any country, shall be considered to render the variety a matter of common knowledge from the date of the application, if the application leads to the granting of protection or to the entering of the variety in the official register of varieties, as the case may be.
(5) DistinctnessThe distinctness of one variety from another may be based on one or more identifiable morphological, physiological, or other characteristics (including any characteristics evidenced by processing or product characteristics, such as milling and baking characteristics in the case of wheat) with respect to which a difference in genealogy may contribute evidence.
(6) Publicly known varieties (A) In generalA variety that is adequately described by a publication reasonably considered to be a part of the public technical knowledge in the United States shall be considered to be publicly known and a matter of common knowledge.
(B) DescriptionA description that meets the requirements of subparagraph (A) shall include a disclosure of the principal characteristics by which a variety is distinguished.
(C) Other meansA variety may become publicly known and a matter of common knowledge by other means.
(Pub. L. 91–577, title II, §41, Dec. 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 1546; Pub. L. 103–349, §2, Oct. 6, 1994, 108 Stat. 3136.)
AMENDMENTS1994—Pub. L. 103–349 amended section generally, substituting provisions consisting of subsecs. (a) and (b) for former provisions consisting of subsecs. (a) to (j).
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1994 AMENDMENTPub. L. 103–349, §15, Oct. 6, 1994, 108 Stat. 3145, provided that: "This Act [amending this section and sections 2327, 2330, 2353, 2354, 2357, 2402, 2404, 2422, 2423, 2424, 2425, 2442, 2461, 2462, 2463, 2482, 2483, 2486, 2501, 2504, 2532, 2541, 2542, 2543, 2561, 2566, 2567, 2568, and 2570 of this title, repealing sections 2463, 2502 and 2503 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and section 2321 of this title] and the amendments made by this Act shall become effective 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 6, 1994]."
TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS FOR 1994 AMENDMENTPub. L. 103–349, §14, Oct. 6, 1994, 108 Stat. 3144, provided that:
"(a)
"(b)
"(1)
"(2)
"(A) eligibility for protection and the terms of protection shall be governed by the Plant Variety Protection Act [7 U.S.C. 2321 et seq.], as amended by this Act; and
"(B) for purposes of section 42 of the Plant Variety Protection Act [7 U.S.C. 2402], as amended by section 3 of this Act, the date of filing shall be the date of filing of the original application.
"(c)
"(1)
"(2)
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