Have we really gotten to the point that planting a seed can lead to a high-stakes Supreme Court patent lawsuit? We have, and that case is Bowman v. Monsanto, which is being argued on Tuesday. Monsanto’s critics have assailed the company for its “ruthless legal battles against small farmers,” and they are hoping this will be the case that puts it in its place. They are also hoping the court’s ruling will rein in patent law, which is increasingly being used to claim new life forms as private property.
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Friday, February 22, 2013
Is It A Crime To Plant A Seed?
Vernon Hugh Bowman, a 75-year-old farmer from rural Indiana, did something that got him sued. He planted soybean seeds. But Monsanto, the ag giant, insists it has a patent on the kind of genetically modified seeds Bowman used — and that the patent continues to all of the progeny of those seeds.
Have we really gotten to the point that planting a seed can lead to a high-stakes Supreme Court patent lawsuit? We have, and that case is Bowman v. Monsanto, which is being argued on Tuesday. Monsanto’s critics have assailed the company for its “ruthless legal battles against small farmers,” and they are hoping this will be the case that puts it in its place. They are also hoping the court’s ruling will rein in patent law, which is increasingly being used to claim new life forms as private property.
Have we really gotten to the point that planting a seed can lead to a high-stakes Supreme Court patent lawsuit? We have, and that case is Bowman v. Monsanto, which is being argued on Tuesday. Monsanto’s critics have assailed the company for its “ruthless legal battles against small farmers,” and they are hoping this will be the case that puts it in its place. They are also hoping the court’s ruling will rein in patent law, which is increasingly being used to claim new life forms as private property.
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2 comments:
Monsanto has a patent on the seed. Once they sell it, they reap their monetary reward. It is the farmer who spends money in diesel and electric to grow or not the seeds that takes that risk. The only way Monsanto would have any claim on the crop is if they paid all the expenses of raising the crop, which they do not do.
Therefore, the profit goes to the Farmer.
all the big agra giants have been taking what God gave us and applying for patents on it and claimning it as theirs. Then trying to force everyone to pay them to use those seeds. Gets really tricky outside the country though when trying to foce farmers in other parts of the world to pay them also.
Total BS and someone needs to be strung up for this type of behavior!
Just be glad it wasn't a pot seed! lol!
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