
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC2504]

 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
                  CHAPTER 57--PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION
 
  SUBCHAPTER II--PROTECTABILITY OF PLANT VARIETIES AND CERTIFICATES OF 
                               PROTECTION
 
      Part I--Reexamination After Issue, and Contested Proceedings
 
Sec. 2504. Interfering plant variety protection

    (a) The owner of a certificate of plant variety protection may have 
relief against another owner of a certificate of the same variety by 
civil action, and the court may adjudge the question of validity of the 
respective certificates, or the ownership of the certificate.
    (b) Such suit may be instituted against the party in interest as 
shown by the record of the Plant Variety Protection Office at the time 
of the decision complained of, but any party in interest may become a 
party to the action. If there be adverse parties residing in a plurality 
of districts not embraced within the same State, or an adverse party 
residing in a foreign country, the United States District Court for the 
District of Columbia, or any United States district court to which it 
may transfer the case, shall have jurisdiction and may issue summons 
against the adverse parties directed to the marshall of any district in 
which any adverse party resides. Summons against adverse parties 
residing in foreign countries may be served by publication or otherwise 
as the court directs. The Secretary shall not be made a party but the 
Secretary shall have the right to intervene. Judgment of the court in 
favor of the right of an applicant to plant variety protection shall 
authorize the Secretary to issue a certificate of plant variety 
protection on the filing in the Plant Variety Protection Office of a 
certified copy of the judgment and on compliance with the requirements 
of this chapter.

(Pub. L. 91-577, title II, Sec. 92, formerly Sec. 94, Dec. 24, 1970, 84 
Stat. 1553; renumbered Sec. 92 and amended Pub. L. 103-349, Secs. 8(b), 
(c)(1), 13(p), Oct. 6, 1994, 108 Stat. 3140, 3144.)

                          Codification

    The text of subsec. (b) of section 2463 of this title, which was 
transferred to subsec. (b) of this section by Pub. L. 103-349, 
Sec. 8(c)(1), was based on section 73(b) of Pub. L. 91-577, title II, 
Dec. 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 1550.


                            Prior Provisions

    A prior section 92 of Pub. L. 91-577 was classified to section 2502 
of this title prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103-349.


                               Amendments

    1994--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103-349, Sec. 8(b)(2), designated 
existing provisions as subsec. (a) and struck out at end ``The 
provisions of section 2463(b) of this title shall apply to actions 
brought under this section.''
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103-349, Secs. 8(c)(1), 13(p), transferred 
subsec. (b) of section 2463 of this title to subsec. (b) of this 
section, and substituted ``the Secretary'' for ``he'' before ``shall 
have'' in fourth sentence. See Codification note above.


                    Effective Date of 1994 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 103-349 effective 180 days after Oct. 6, 1994, 
see section 15 of Pub. L. 103-349, set out as a note under section 2401 
of this title.
