U.S. PVP - Benefits to Breeder's Innovation and Society.

Plant Variety Protection (PVP) provides a means of intellectual property protection that benefits both plant breeders and society.  In the U.S. - PVP is available to breeders of new varieties of plants that are sexually reproduced (by seed) or tuber-propagated.  The U.S. PVP system provides an incentive for plant breeding by protecting innovation for a fixed period of years while allowing both research with protected varieties which can lead to new variety development and the right for farmers to save seed of PVP varieties for replanting on their farm.  PVP certificates are issued by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.