Jimmie Turner (202) 720-8998jimmie.turner@ams.usda.gov
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2011 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 35 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include corn, zinnia and vinca.
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 Dave 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 35 certificates are:
--the I285295, I208993, I059952, I174086, I285282, I283669, CV211902, CV082228, I686684, I539440, I354076, I291859, I932310, I796483, I744515, I669334, I291336, I291273, I281779, I090378 and I029427 varieties of field corn, developed by Monsanto Technology LLC, Waterman, Ill.;
--the PHCHP, PHH9H, PHHEP, PHHNJ, PHA9B, PHD0G, PHHCC, PHEME, PH8ER, PHE6Z, PHHKC and PHB4D varieties of field corn, developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, Iowa;
--the PAS719124 variety of zinnia, developed by Ball Horticultural Company, West Chicago, Ill.; and
--the PAS555869 varieties of vinca, developed by Ball Horticultural Company, West Chicago, Ill.
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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