1548
PUBLIC LAW 91-577-DEC. 24, 1970
[84 STAT.
Chapter 5—APPLICATIONS; FORM, WHO MAY FILE, RELATING BACK, CONFIDENTIALITY Sec. 51. Application for Recognition of Plant Variety Rights. (a) An application for a certificate of Plant Variety Protection may be filed by the owner of the variety sought to be protected. The application shall be made in writing to the Secretary, shall be signed by or on behalf of the applicant, and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee. (b) An error as to the naming of the breeder, without deceptive intent, may be corrected at any time, in accordance with regulations established by the Secretary. Sec. 52. Content of Application. An application for a certificate recognizing plant variety rights shall contain: (1) The name of the variety except that a temporary designation will suffice until the certificate is to be issued. (2) A description of the variety setting forth its novelty and a description of the genealogy and breeding procedure, when known. The Secretary may require amplification, including the submission of adequate photographs or drawings or plant specimens, if the description is not adequate or as complete as is reasonably possible, and submission of records or proof of ownership or of allegations made in the application. An applicant may add to or correct the description at any time, before the certificate is issued, upon a showing acceptable to the Secretary that the revised description is retroactively accurate. Courts shall protect others from any injustice which would result. The Secretary may accept records of the breeder and of any official seed certifying agency in this country as evidence of stability where applicable. (3) A declaration that a viable sample of basic seed necessary for propagation of the variety will be deposited and replenished periodically in a public repository in accordance with regulations to be established hereunder. This declaration may be added by amendment. (4) A statement of the basis of applicant's ownership. Sec. 53. Joint Breeders. (a) When two or more persons are the breeders, one (or his successor) may apply, naming the others. (b) The Secretary, after such notice as he may prescribe, may issue a certificate of plant variety protection to the applicant and such of the other breeders (or their successors in interest) as may have subsequently joined in the application. Sec. 54. Death or Incapacity of Breeder. Legal i^epresentatives of deceased breeders and of those under legal incapacity may make application for plant variety protection upon compliance with the requirements and on the same terms and conditions applicable to the breeder or his successor in interest. Sec. 55. Benefit of Earlier Filing Date. (a) An application for a certificate of plant variety protection filed in this country based on the same variety, and on rights derived from the same breeder, on which there has previously been filed an application for plant variety protection in a foreign country which affords similar privileges in the case of applications filed in the United States
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