Title 7, AgricultureRelease 119-102
§2426 Confidential Status of Application
Title 7 › CHAPTER 57 — PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION › SUBCHAPTER II — PROTECTABILITY OF PLANT VARIETIES AND CERTIFICATES OF PROTECTION › Part E — Applications; Form; Who May File; Relating Back; Confidentiality › § 2426
Summary
Plant Variety Protection Office, the Board, and authorized USDA offices must keep applications and contents private and cannot share them without the owner's consent except in special cases the Secretary approves; Secretary may publish only the variety name, crop, applicant, and sale-by-name certified-seed status.
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
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102