WASHINGTON, May 31, 2023 —Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the opening of the USDA Farmers Market for its 26th market season. The annual Friday market will open on Friday, June 2, 2023, and run through Friday, September 29, 2023.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced the June 2023 dates for listening sessions to gather stakeholder feedback on the Cattle Contracts Library Pilot Program (Pilot). On April 27, 2023, AMS announced that it would hold these new sessions at locations in key cattle producing states to provide an opportunity for interested stakeholders to attend either in-person or virtually.

• USPTO seeks public feedback on the current state of the experimental use exception to patent infringement
• Federal Seed Act Fact Sheet (pdf)
• USDA AMS Clarifies Varietal Labeling Requirements of the Federal Seed Act to Enhance Transparency for Growers<

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is conducting market research to expand its Kosher and Halal food options in USDA nutrition assistance programs.

A Preissuance Submission (PIS) is a submission of evidence challenging the validity of the claims made about a pending patent application before the patent is granted. When patent examiners evaluate whether an invention claimed in a patent application is new, useful, and non-obvious, they look for “prior art” — any evidence that what is in the claim has already been described.

In most cases, the USPTO publishes pending patent applications 18 months after the initial filing date. There are several tools the public can use to view published pending patent applications and to stay updated as applications move through the examination process.  

The USDA Farmer Seed Liaison initiative provides a point of contact within the USDA to help those who work with seeds navigate a complex system. The Farmer Seed Liaison connects seed growers and intellectual property (IP) administrators, antitrust regulators, licensing and labeling enforcers, and other federal partners to ensure that farmers have the choices they need to be successful.