Michael T. Jarvis (202) 720-8998 Michael.jarvis@ams.usda.gov
WASHINGTON, July 12, 2012 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 30 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include chicory, corn, lettuce, potato, rice 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 Acting Administrator David Shipman, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). “The public benefits as the recipient of lower prices from increased productivity, and from quality food, feed, fiber and other products, that 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 30 certificates are:
--the TFI 200* variety of chicory, developed by Oregon Wholesale Seed Company, Silverton, Ore.;
--the FM 820F and FM 835LLB2 varieties of cotton, developed by Cotton Seed International Proprietary Limited (ACN 065 327 915), New South Wales, Australia, Bayer CropScience AG, Monheim, Germany;
--the CV252827, CV015152, CV024085, CV971868, CV988815, CV267821, CV107099, CV935311, CV932089, CV485971, CV292720, CV681470, CV553210, CV750102 and CV914011 varieties of field corn, developed by Monsanto Technology LLC, Waterman, Ill.;
--the PHCKR variety of field corn, developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., Johnston, Iowa;
--the Destiny variety of lettuce, developed by Harris Moran Seed Company, Modesto, Calif.;
--the RED MAGIC variety of potato, developed by Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.;
--the FL 2137 variety of potato, developed by Frito-Lay North America, Inc., Plano, Texas;
--the KOSHIHIKARI Kasusa 1 gou variety of rice, developed by Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan;
--the NE01481* and NI04421* varieties of common wheat, developed by Board of Regents, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.; and
--the SY 1526*, SY Ovation*, SY Soren*, SY Tyra* and SY Wolf* varieties of common wheat, developed by Syngenta Crop Protection AG, Basel, Switzerland.
* 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 the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/pvpo.
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