WASHINGTON, April 5, 2010 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 19 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include bluegrass, fescue, flax, ryegrass and safflower.
The 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 19 certificates are:
-- the Mongoose and Appalachian varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by Cascade International Seed Company, Aumsville, Ore;
-- the Blackberry, Aries, and Bonaire* varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, N.J.;
-- the Blueberry, Moon Beam, Prosperity, Denali, and Moonlight SLT varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by Pure-Seed Testing, Inc., Hubbard, Ore.;
-- the Cardinal variety of red fescue, developed by DLF International Seeds, Halsey, Ore.;
-- the SR 5130 variety of chewings fescue, developed by Seed Research of Oregon and Rutgers, Corvallis, OR, The State University of New Jersey, North Brunswick, N.J.;
-- the Prairie Blue* variety of flax, developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta, Canada;
--the Peregrine, SR 4550, and Radiant II varieties of perennial ryegrass, developed by Advanta Seeds Pacific, Albany, Ore.;
-- the Cardinal* and MonDak* varieties of safflower, developed by Montana State University, Bozeman, Mont.; and
-- the S-334* variety of safflower, developed by California Oils Corporation, Woodland, Calif.
* In the United States, seed of this variety shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed, and 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 more information, contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291, or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov./pvpo.
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