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Patenting Life Forms: Issues Surrounding the Plant Variety Protection Act

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Barbara A. Claffey*
Affiliation:
Agricultural Policy Branch, National Economics Division, Economics, Statistics, and Cooperatives Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Extract

This paper examines the issues surrounding the patenting of life forms, specifically the social and private costs and benefits of the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) (Plant Variety Protection Act, 1970). The PVPA is a current issue, encompassing all the elements of the economic, social, and moral controversy aroused by the broader issue of patenting life forms generally.

The subsequent sections of the paper outline the specific issues surrounding the PVPA, discuss the issue of plant patenting, present the arguments favoring and opposing plant patenting, and, finally, present an analysis of the major issues of the PVPA.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1981

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