An economic appraisal of user-fee alternatives for the Plant Variety Protection Office | Economic appraisal of user-fee alternatives for the Plant Variety Protection Act
1981
Clayton, Kenneth C.
Extract: The Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970 assigned exclusive property rights through patents to the breeders of novel sexually-reproduced plants. To administer this program, the Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO) was established within the Agricultural Marketing Service of USDA. Since 1974, PVPO operations have been financed by a flat user fee of $750 and general government revenues. During this same period, PVPO costs have risen from just under $2100 to over $3600 per application processed. In this report the issue of whether PVPO user fees should be adjusted is addressed. It is concluded that a larger proportion of PVPO costs could be assessed patent recipients without causing great disruption to the incentive for increased plant variety research and development. Although variable fee schedules could be devised, it is concluded that most would be of limited practical value. A flat fee to cover full PVPO costs is considered to be most preferable.
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