Wish Vernon all the best. Sadly, I doubt he will
win.
U.S. ag wary as Monsanto heads to Supreme
Court
Reuters  |  February 15, 2013
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A 75-year-old Indiana grain farmer will take on
global seed giant Monsanto Company at the U.S.
Supreme Court next week in a patent battle that
could have ramifications for the biotechnology
industry and possibly the future of food
production.
The highest court in the United States will hear
arguments on Tuesday in the dispute, which
started when soybean farmer Vernon Bowman
bought and planted a mix of unmarked grain
typically used for animal feed. The plants that
grew turned out to contain the popular herbicide-
resistant genetic trait known as Roundup Ready
that Monsanto guards closely with patents.
The St. Louis, Mo.-based biotech giant accused
Bowman of infringing its patents by growing plants
that contained its genetics. But Bowman, who
grows wheat and corn along with soybeans on
about 300 acres inherited from his father, argued
that he used second-generation grain and not the
original seeds covered by Monsanto's patents.
A central issue for the court is the extent that a
patent holder, or the developer of a genetically
modified seed, can control its use through multiple
generations of seed.
The Supreme Court's decision to hear the dispute
has sparked broad concerns in the biotech
industry as a range of companies fear it will result
in limits placed on their own patents of self-
replicating technologies.
At the same time, many farmer groups and
biotech crop critics hope the Supreme Court might
curb what they say is a patent system that gives
too much power to biotech seed companies like
Monsanto.
"I think the case has enormous implications," said
Dermot Hayes, an Iowa State University
agribusiness and economics professor who
believes Monsanto should prevail. "If Monsanto
were to lose, many companies would have a
reduced incentive for research in an area where
we really need it right now. The world needs more
food."
The court battle has ballooned into a show-down
that merges contentious matters of patent law
with an ongoing national debate about the merits
and pitfalls of genetically altered crops and efforts
to increase food production.
More than 50 organizations - from environmental
groups to intellectual property experts - as well as
the U.S. government, have filed legal briefs
hoping to sway the high court.
Companies developing patented cell lines and
tools of molecular biotechnology could lose their
ability to capture the ongoing value of these
technologies if the Supreme Court sides with
Bowman, said Hans Sauer, deputy general
counsel for the Biotechnology Industry
Organization.
win.
U.S. ag wary as Monsanto heads to Supreme
Court
Reuters  |  February 15, 2013
ShareThis   resize text
A 75-year-old Indiana grain farmer will take on
global seed giant Monsanto Company at the U.S.
Supreme Court next week in a patent battle that
could have ramifications for the biotechnology
industry and possibly the future of food
production.
The highest court in the United States will hear
arguments on Tuesday in the dispute, which
started when soybean farmer Vernon Bowman
bought and planted a mix of unmarked grain
typically used for animal feed. The plants that
grew turned out to contain the popular herbicide-
resistant genetic trait known as Roundup Ready
that Monsanto guards closely with patents.
The St. Louis, Mo.-based biotech giant accused
Bowman of infringing its patents by growing plants
that contained its genetics. But Bowman, who
grows wheat and corn along with soybeans on
about 300 acres inherited from his father, argued
that he used second-generation grain and not the
original seeds covered by Monsanto's patents.
A central issue for the court is the extent that a
patent holder, or the developer of a genetically
modified seed, can control its use through multiple
generations of seed.
The Supreme Court's decision to hear the dispute
has sparked broad concerns in the biotech
industry as a range of companies fear it will result
in limits placed on their own patents of self-
replicating technologies.
At the same time, many farmer groups and
biotech crop critics hope the Supreme Court might
curb what they say is a patent system that gives
too much power to biotech seed companies like
Monsanto.
"I think the case has enormous implications," said
Dermot Hayes, an Iowa State University
agribusiness and economics professor who
believes Monsanto should prevail. "If Monsanto
were to lose, many companies would have a
reduced incentive for research in an area where
we really need it right now. The world needs more
food."
The court battle has ballooned into a show-down
that merges contentious matters of patent law
with an ongoing national debate about the merits
and pitfalls of genetically altered crops and efforts
to increase food production.
More than 50 organizations - from environmental
groups to intellectual property experts - as well as
the U.S. government, have filed legal briefs
hoping to sway the high court.
Companies developing patented cell lines and
tools of molecular biotechnology could lose their
ability to capture the ongoing value of these
technologies if the Supreme Court sides with
Bowman, said Hans Sauer, deputy general
counsel for the Biotechnology Industry
Organization.
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