The Plant Variety Protection Act provides legal protection in the form of intellectual property rights to developers of new varieties of plants.

Agricultural Marketing Service Acting Administrator David Shipman stated that, “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. 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.”

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Posted 10/27/2011