[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

About PVP

http://probe.nalusda.gov:8000/related/aboutpvp.html

-- 
Lawrence F. London, Jr.
mailto:london@sunSITE.unc.edu  
http://sunSITE.unc.edu/InterGarden
Title: About PVP

../dkgreentilt.gif - 3.82 K About PVP
PVP-- Plant Variety Protection Database [browse | query]
ACEDB version: 4.1
Data version: February 1996
To cite this database:
Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., Jeffrey L. Strachan, and Robert W. Schlegel. "The PVP Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/pvp. (ACEDB version 4.1 - data version February 1996).

Questions regarding these data should be directed to:

U.S. Department of Agriculture
The Plant Variety Protection Office
Rm. 500, National Agriculture Library
10301 Baltimore Blvd.
Beltsville, Maryland 20705
Telephone: 301-504-5518
Fax: 301-504-5291
Contact: Cheryl_D_Sultzer@usda.gov (Cheryl D. Sultzer)

The Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO) is charged with providing legal rights in accord with The Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1542)(7 U.S.C. 2321 et seq.); plant breeders' rights. These rights of intellectual property are granted to owners who desire exclusive privileges regarding the sale, reproduction, import, and export of new varieties of plants which have met or surpassed certain criteria relating to distinctness, genetic uniformity, and genetic stability. The successful applicant is granted a Certificate of Protection for the application variety which remains in force for 20 years, in return for which they agree to public disclosure of certain facts, including the description of the variety and its breeding history. Since the inception of The Act, The Office has been charged with maintaining a collection of data which includes descriptions of existing varieties. These data are used to compare with the application varieties thereby assessing the novelty, uniformity, and stability of the proposed new variety.

Until 1983, the only data commonly released to the public were copies of certificates which had been issued for successful applicants. In 1983, the data for soybeans was released but there was little interest from plant breeders. As personal computers became more commonplace, the ability to quickly scan or search a database made the PVPO data more attractive and useful. In late 1989, an administrative directive provided that non-classified Department of Agriculture data could be made available to the general public in both printed, and electronic form. In 1991, the soybean data were again made available, this time on computer diskettes. The public response was significantly greater than in 1983.

Resources at NAL maintained by the PVP Office:
ftp archive
Resources at NAL maintained by the Genome Informatics Group:
Gopher server
WWW server
Help | View web site map | Search AGIS web site.
Genome Informatics Group / 10 April 1997