---
type: "LegalText"
title: "7 U.S.C. § 2562"
description: "Presumption of validity; defenses"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 7
title_name: "AGRICULTURE"
chapter_number: "57"
chapter_name: "PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION"
section: "2562"
citation: "7 U.S.C. § 2562"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc07@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t7/s2562"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-07/usc07.xml"
source_hash: "a5e1bac026cb5a12f369420765caae66a35ee76e8c9aa88cbc1258687f3312d5"
raw_snapshot_hash: "50edab1679a711653797362c0aeb8f2273303fe473fb7fa16df1ee76bdd6e984"
text_hash: "32c1b2134c769ffe4de025ece4686f028ebfdbcaf5c786c8afdba58885b73599"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 7 U.S.C. § 2562 - Presumption of validity; defenses

## Text

(a) Certificates of plant variety protection shall be presumed valid. The burden of establishing invalidity of a plant variety protection shall rest on the party asserting invalidity.

(b) The following shall be defenses in any action charging infringement and shall be pleaded: (1) noninfringement, absence of liability for infringement, or unenforceability; (2) invalidity of the plant variety protection in suit on any ground specified in section 2402 of this title as a condition for protectability; (3) invalidity of the plant variety protection in suit for failure to comply with any requirement of section 2422 of this title; (4) that the asserted infringement was performed under an existing certificate adverse to that asserted and prior to notice of the infringement; and (5) any other fact or act made a defense by this chapter.

(Pub. L. 91–577, title III, § 122, Dec. 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 1556.)