Protect rights over new plant species created through natural or artificial breeding processes.
Plant Breeding: The process of developing new and improved plant varieties through selection and hybridization.
Plant Patent Act: A law passed in the United States in 1930 that allows individuals and companies to patent new and distinct varieties of asexually reproduced plants.
Plant Variety Protection Act: A law passed in the United States in 1970 that provides intellectual property protection for sexually reproduced plant varieties.
Utility Patents: A type of patent that covers new and useful inventions or discoveries, including plant varieties that have been genetically engineered.
Plant Breeders' Rights: A system of intellectual property protection that grants exclusive rights to seed producers and plant breeders who have developed new plant varieties.
Genetic Engineering: The process of modifying the genetic material of an organism to introduce new traits, such as disease resistance or increased yield.
Plant Gene Banks: Collections of genetically diverse plant varieties that are stored for future use in breeding programs.
Seed Banks: Facilities that collect, store, and distribute seed varieties for use in agriculture, conservation, and research.
Open Pollinated Varieties: Plant varieties that reproduce through natural pollination and produce offspring with the same genetic traits as the parent plant.
Hybrid Varieties: Plant varieties that are produced through crossbreeding of two or more parent plants to create offspring with desirable traits.
Crop Domestication: The process of selectively breeding wild plants for desirable traits to create new crop varieties.
Agricultural Biotechnology: The application of science and technology to improve agricultural productivity, including the development of new plant varieties.
Plant Propagation: The process of reproducing plants through asexual or sexual means to create new plants with the same genetic traits as the parent plant.
Intellectual Property Law: The body of law that governs the protection of intellectual property, including plant varieties.
Plant Conservation: The conservation and preservation of plant genetic diversity, including rare and endangered plant species.
Plant patents: Grants property rights on invented hybrid plant varieties.
Plant variety protection (PVP) certificates: Provides exclusive rights on new plant varieties to breeders.
Utility patents: Covers new and useful plant variations, such as genetically modified plants.
Plant breeders’ rights (PBR): Grants property rights on newly created plants.
Open varieties: A non-legal term for plants grown from open-pollination, not requiring any intellectual property rights.