[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR97.2]

[Page 253-254]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
 CHAPTER I--AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE \1\ (STANDARDS, INSPECTIONS, 
       MARKETING PRACTICES), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED)
 
PART 97_PLANT VARIETY AND PROTECTION--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 97.2  Meaning of words.

    Words used in the regulations in this part in the singular form will 
import the plural, and vice versa, as the case may demand. The 
definitions of terms contained in the Act shall apply to such terms when 
used in this part. As used throughout the regulations in this part, 
unless the context requires otherwise, the following terms will be 
construed to mean:
    Abandoned application. An application which has not been pursued to 
completion within the time allowed by the Office or has been voluntarily 
abandoned.
    Act. The Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 2321 et seq.).
    Administrator. The Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing 
Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or any other officer or 
employee of the Department of Agriculture to whom authority has 
heretofore been delegated, or to whom authority may hereafter be 
delegated, to act in his or her stead.
    Applicant. The person who applied for a certificate of plant variety 
protection.
    Application. An application for plant variety protection under the 
Act.
    Assignee. A person to whom an owner assigns his/her rights in whole 
or in part.
    Board. The Plant Variety Protection Board appointed by the 
Secretary.
    Certificate. A certificate of plant variety protection issued under 
the Act by the Office.
    Certified seed. Seed which has been determined by an official seed 
certifying agency to conform to standards of genetic purity and identity 
as to variety, which standards have been approved by the Secretary.
    Commissioner. The Examiner in Chief of the Office.
    Decision and order. Includes the Secretary's findings of fact; 
conclusions with respect to all material issues of fact and law, as well 
as the reasons or basis therefor; and order.
    Examiner. An employee of the Plant Variety Protection Office who 
determines whether a certificate is entitled to be issued. The term 
shall, in all cases, include the Commissioner.
    Foreign application. An application for plant variety protection 
filed in a foreign country.
    Hearing Clerk. The Hearing Clerk, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, DC.
    Hearing Officer. An Administrative Law Judge, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, or other officer or employee of the Department of 
Agriculture, duly assigned to preside at a hearing held pursuant to the 
rules of this part.
    Office or Plant Variety Protection Office. The Plant Variety 
Protection Office, Science and Technology Programs, AMS, USDA.
    Official Journal. The ``Official Journal of the Plant Variety 
Protection Office.''
    Owner. A breeder who developed or discovered and developed a variety 
for which plant variety protection may be applied for under the Act, or 
a person to whom the rights to such variety have been assigned or 
transferred.
    Person. An individual, partnership, corporation, association, 
government agency, or other business or governmental entity.
    Secretary. The Secretary of Agriculture of the United States or any 
other officer or employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to whom 
authority has heretofore been delegated, or to whom authority may 
hereafter be delegated to act in his or her stead.
    Seed certifying agency. It shall be defined as set forth in the 
Federal Seed Act (53 Stat. 1275).
    Sale for other than seed purposes. The transfer of title to and 
possession of the seed by the owner to a grower or other person, for 
reproduction for the

[[Page 254]]

owner, for testing, or for experimental use, and not for commercial sale 
of the seed or the reproduced seed for planting purposes.

[58 FR 42435, Aug. 9, 1993, as amended at 60 FR 17189, Apr. 4, 1995; 61 
FR 248, Jan. 4, 1996; 70 FR 28785, May 19, 2005]

                             Administration