Title 7 — AgricultureRelease 119-73
§2542 Grandfather clause
Title 7 › Chapter CHAPTER 57— - PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION AND RIGHTS › Part Part K— - Infringement of Plant Variety Protection › § 2542
Summary
Protects the right of a person — and anyone who later owns their rights — to reproduce or sell a variety they developed more than one year before the effective filing date of another person's plant variety protection application.
Full Legal Text
Title 7, §2542
Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Nothing in this chapter shall abridge the right of any person, or the successor in interest of the person, to reproduce or sell a variety developed and produced by such person more than one year prior to the effective filing date of an adverse application for a certificate of plant variety protection.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–349 substituted “the successor in interest of the person” for “his successor in interest”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1994 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 103–349 effective 180 days after Oct. 6, 1994, see section 15 of Pub. L. 103–349, set out as a note under section 2401 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
7 U.S.C. § 2542
Title 7 — Agriculture
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73