7 U.S.C. § 2581
Section 2581 · Intent
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 1 court decisions — leading case Asgrow Seed Company v. Winterboer (1995)
Most recently applied in Asgrow Seed Company v. Winterboer (January 1995)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
It is the intent of Congress to provide the indicated protection for new varieties by exercise of any constitutional power needed for that end, so as to afford adequate encouragement for research, and for marketing when appropriate, to yield for the public the benefits of new varieties. Constitutional clauses 3 and 8 of article I, section 8 are both relied upon.