News section
USDA grants protection to 20 new plant varieties
Washington, DC
October 20, 2003

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 20 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include barley, bean, bluegrass, cotton, fescue, lettuce, onion, pea, peanut, ryegrass, tobacco and wheat.

The 20 certificates are being issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The certificates require that the varieties be new, distinct, uniform and stable. The owners will have the exclusive right to reproduce, sell, import and export their products in the United States for the duration of protection.

The 20 certificates are:

  • the IdaGold II* variety of barley, developed by Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colo.;
  • the Price* variety of barley, developed by Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc., Blacksburg, Va.;
  • the Thoroughbred variety of garden bean, developed by Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc., Oxnard, Calif.;
  • the Dragon variety of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by ProSeeds Marketing, Inc., Jefferson, Ore.;
  • the DP 5557 variety of cotton, developed by D&PL Technology Holding Corporation, Scott, Miss.;
  • the Durango and Matador varieties of tall fescue, developed by Pure Seed Testing, Inc., Hubbard, Ore.;
  • the Big Ben variety of lettuce, developed by Pybas Vegetable Seed Company Inc., Santa Maria, Calif.;
  • the Hearts Delight variety of lettuce, developed by Enza Zaden de Enkhuizer Zaadhandel B.V., The Netherlands;
  • the BEN HUR* variety of lettuce, developed by Progecy Advanced Genetics, Inc., Salinas, Calif.;
  • the NuMex Crimson* and NuMex Solano* variety of onion, developed by New Mexico State University and Agricultural Experiment Station, Las Cruces, N.M.;
  • the Marias variety of pea, developed by Crites-Moscow Growers, Inc., Moscow, Idaho;
  • the NemaTam* variety of peanut, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas;
  • the Manhattan 3 variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by Pure Seed Testing, Inc., Hubbard, Ore.;
  • the Vector 21-41 variety of tobacco, developed by North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.;
  • the NC 71*, NC72 and NC92-2770-40 varieties of tobacco, developed by North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.; and
  • the AGS 2485 variety of common wheat, developed by University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc., and Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Athens, Ga.

*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).

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service 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 additional information contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at telephone (301) 504-5518, fax  (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/science/PVPO/pvpindex.htm.

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