Hakim Fobia (202)690-0488hakim.fobia@ams.usda.gov
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2011 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 27 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include bluegrass, corn, lettuce, rape, ryegrass, soybean and wheat.
The Plant Variety Protection Act provides legal protection in the form of intellectual property rights to developers of new varieties of plants.
“A certificate of protection is awarded to an owner of a crop variety after an examination shows that it is new, distinct from other varieties, and genetically uniform and stable through successive generations,” said Administrator Rayne Pegg, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). “The public benefits from lower prices due to increased productivity, and from quality food, feed, fiber and other products, which result directly from improved plant varieties.”
The term of protection is 20 years for most crops, and 25 years for trees, shrubs and vines. The owner of a protected variety has exclusive rights to multiply and market the seed of that variety.
The 27 certificates are:
--the Skye and Durham varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by Grassland Oregon, Inc., Salem, Ore.;
--the PHENN, PHE6W, PHC55, PHD62, PHE2E, PHGJB and PHHDN varieties of field corn, developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, Iowa;
--the Mainman variety of Lettuce, developed by Harris Moran Seed Company, Modesto, Calif.;
--the Athena* variety of winter rape, developed by Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station, Moscow, Idaho;
--the Pentium variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by The Scotts Company, Marysville, Ohio;
--Prelude IV, Palmer IV and Keystone varieties of perennial ryegrass, developed by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, N.J.;
--the 93Y16, 93Y22, XB30J10, XB33B10, RJS30003, RJS30004, RJS28005, RJS31005, RJS00801, RJS29002 and RJS17002 variety of soybean, developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, Iowa;
--UICF-Brundage* variety of common wheat, developed by University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho.
*In the United States, seed of this variety (1) shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed and (2) shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ).
AMS administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time-limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers.
For more information, contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or visit the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/pvpo.
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