The Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO) administers the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA), which provides legal protection to plant breeders for new plant varieties for up to 25 years for a variety of tree and vine (including rootstocks), and 20 years for all other varieties of plants that are sexually reproduced (by seed) or tuber propagated.

Plant Variety Protection provides a form of intellectual property rights by which plant breeders can protect their new varieties in the same way an inventor protects a new invention with a patent.