The Fair Seeds for Farmers Act would restrict how plant seeds and crops can be protected under federal intellectual property law. Currently, companies can patent plant varieties or use contracts to control how farmers use seeds, including preventing farmers from saving and replanting seeds. This bill would eliminate those broader patent protections and ban enforcement of contracts that restrict farmers' ability to save seeds, conduct breeding experiments, or propagate plants for research purposes. The legislation would only allow plant protection through two specific existing laws: the Plant Variety Protection Act and the Plant Patent Act of 1930. The restrictions would apply to any new patent applications and contracts signed after the bill becomes law, but would not affect patents already granted before the law takes effect.
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