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The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress, and was published on Aug 12, 1994.
Plant Variety Protection Act Amendments of 1994 - Amends the Plant Variety Protection Act to revise definitions and establish rules of construction concerning: (1) the sale and disposition of harvesting material, varieties, and hybrid seeds; (2) the filing of applications for the protection or entering of a variety in an official register; and (3) the basis of determining the distinctness of a variety or whether a variety is publicly known. (Sec. 3) Entitles breeders of sexually reproduced or tuber propagated plant varieties other than fungi or bacteria (currently, other than fungi, bacteria, or first generation hybrids) who have reproduced a variety to plant variety protection if the variety is new, distinct, uniform, and stable. Provides that if two or more applicants for plant variety protection submit applications on the same filing date for indistinguishable varieties that fulfill the conditions for protection established by this Act, the applicant who first complies with this Act's requirements shall be entitled to protection to the exclusion of any other applicant. Issues a single protection certificate jointly to two or more applicants who comply with requirements on the same date for varieties that are indistinguishable. (Sec. 5) Grants an applicant two years (with appropriate additional time if rejected) to file necessary information under a foreign filing right of priority. (Sec. 7) Lengthens the term of plant variety protection from 18 to 20 years from the date of issuance of the protection certificate (25 years for trees or vines). (Sec. 8) Repeals priority contest and related adverse final judgment provisions. (Sec. 9) Adds the following activities to the list of actions which constitute infringement of an owner's right to plant variety protection if performed without an owner's authorization: (1) conditioning the variety for purposes of propagation; and (2) stocking the variety for any existing purpose which constitutes infringement. Permits owners to authorize the use of a variety subject to their own limitations. Provides that it shall not be an infringement of an owner's rights to perform any act: (1) concerning propagating material of a protected variety that has been marketed in the United States unless the act involves further propagation of the variety or involves an export into a country that does not protect such varieties of the plant genus or species (unless the export is for final consumption); or (2) done privately and for noncommercial purposes. (Sec. 10) Removes a provision that declares that it is not an infringement for a person whose primary farming occupation is the growing of crops for sale other than reproductive purposes to sell saved seed for reproductive purposes. (Sec. 12) Requires the use of a variety name in connection with a sale or advertising, except for certain turf and forage grass seeds (unless otherwise required by State law). (Sec. 13) Eliminates specified gender-based references.
