Plant Variety Protection

Plant Variety Protection Certificates are the result of the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970 as an alternative to Utility Patents. PVP certificates are for sexually reproduced and tuber propagated (ex. potatoes) plants. Plant Patents are for asexually reproduced plants, excluding tuber propagated plants. PVP certificates are typically the easiest type of intellectual rights protection to acquire for eligible plants and are usually best suited for crops. Utility patents are common for transgenic crops such as roundup ready varieties of corn, soybeans and alfalfa; but they are only allowed to be planted without the allowance of seed-saving for re-planting. PVPs allow researchers to use the varieties for further research but they can’t register a new variety that has a parent variety that is registered by someone else. Unlike Utility Patents, farmers are allowed to save seeds from varieties with a PVP certificate so long as they are for their own personal use. The protection period for PVPs is 20 years and 25 years for trees and vines. The cost of a PVP is $5,150 without any maintenance fees, a fraction of the estimated cost of $8,000-$20,000 plus maintenance fees for utility patents. These are just a few of the reasons that PVPs are often better suited for breeders and farmers.https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/student-impact-summit/1015/thumbnail.jp