H.R. 9681: Fair Seeds for Farmers Act

This bill would change federal law so that plants, plant varieties, and plant germplasm would generally no longer be eligible for new federal intellectual property protection, except under two existing plant-specific laws:

• The Plant Variety Protection Act
• The Plant Patent Act of 1930

In practical terms, the bill would do three main things:

• It would make clear that the federal patent restriction currently used for human organisms also applies only to human organisms, not plants.
• It would add a new rule saying that no federal law can provide protection for a plant, plant variety, or plant germplasm except through the two laws listed above.
• It would prevent enforcement of certain contracts or agreements that restrict the use of plants, plant varieties, germplasm, or other biological material for research, breeding, experimentation, seed saving, or propagation, if those restrictions are allowed under the specified plant laws.

The bill defines germplasm broadly as plant material that can be used to grow or reproduce plants, such as seeds, pollen, tubers, or rootstock, when used for breeding, conservation, or research. It defines plant variety as a distinguishable group of plants that can be propagated unchanged, including forms such as seed, transplants, tissue culture plantlets, and similar material.

The bill would apply to:

• any patent application that is still pending or filed on or after the date the law takes effect, and
• any contract or agreement entered into on or after that date.

It would not affect the validity of patents already issued on applications that fall outside those rules.

Relevant Companies

• MON - Bayer's crop science business could be affected if plant-related IP protections are narrowed, since it develops and licenses seeds and plant traits.
• CF - Companies in agricultural inputs could be indirectly affected if seed breeding, propagation, or related licensing practices change.
• ADM - Large agricultural firms could be indirectly affected through changes to seed sourcing, breeding rights, and plant-related licensing arrangements.
• DE - Deere is not a seed company, but it has major agricultural exposure and could be indirectly affected by changes in farm-sector economics and seed access.