Title 7 — AgricultureRelease 119-73

§2426 Confidential status of application

Title 7 › Chapter CHAPTER 57— - PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - PROTECTABILITY OF PLANT VARIETIES AND CERTIFICATES OF PROTECTION › Part Part E— - Applications; Form; Who May File; Relating Back; Confidentiality › § 2426

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Plant Variety Protection Office, the Board, and USDA offices must keep plant variety protection applications and their contents confidential. They cannot be shared without the owner's permission, except the Secretary may allow disclosure or publish the variety name, kind, applicant, and any sale restriction to variety name as certified seed.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §2426

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Applications for plant variety protection and their contents shall be kept in confidence by the Plant Variety Protection Office, by the Board, and by the offices in the Department of Agriculture to which access may be given under regulations. No information concerning the same shall be given without the authority of the owner, unless necessary under special circumstances as may be determined by the Secretary, except that the Secretary may publish the variety names designated in applications, stating the kind to which each applies, the name of the applicant, and whether the applicant specified that the variety is to be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1980—Pub. L. 96–574 inserted provisions relating to name of applicant and sale of the variety.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 2426

Title 7 — Agriculture

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73