Fair Seeds for Farmers Act

This bill would change federal patent law so that plants, plant varieties, and plant genetic material (such as seeds, pollen, tubers, or rootstock) could be protected only under the Plant Variety Protection Act and the Plant Patent Act of 1930, and not under other federal laws such as regular utility patents. It would also bar enforcement of contracts or agreements that limit using plants or other biological material for research, breeding, experimentation, seed saving, or propagation. These rules would apply to patent applications pending or filed on or after the date the law takes effect, and to contracts made on or after that date. Patents already issued on earlier applications would not be affected.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• James P. McGovern Democrat sponsor
• 6 cosponsors