Monsanto's case against Indiana farmer goes to Supreme Court

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  • rambone

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    A farmer from Porter County, IN, is facing off against agri-giant Monsanto in a Supreme Court case. The company is suing the 75-year-old farmer for planting cheap-grade soybeans that are typically used for feeding livestock.

    Monsanto asserts the power to copyright lifeforms and control what is done with them after they are sold. Patented seeds and animals are not permitted to reproduce, and Monsanto's aggressive legal team makes sure to punish farmers who violate their policy.

    The case will have rippling effects across the farming industry and throughout patent law.


    Indiana farmer's fight over soybean seeds hits Supreme Court
    Like almost every other farmer in Indiana, Bowman used the patented seeds for his main crop. But for a risky, late-season crop on his 300 acres in Sandborn, Bowman said, "I wanted a cheap source of seed."

    He couldn't reuse his own beans or buy seeds from other farmers who had similar agreements with Monsanto and other companies licensed to sell genetically engineered seeds. And dealers he used to buy cheap seed from no longer carry the unmodified seeds.

    So Bowman found what looked like a loophole and went to a grain elevator that held soybeans it typically sells for feed, milling and other uses, but not as seed.

    Bowman reasoned most of those soybeans also would be resistant to weed killers, as they initially came from herbicide-resistant seeds, too. He was right, and he repeated the practice over eight years.

    He didn't try to keep it a secret from Monsanto and, in October 2007, the company sued him for violating its patent. Bowman's is one of 146 lawsuits Monsanto has filed since 1996 claiming unauthorized use of its Roundup Ready seeds, Snively said.

    A federal court in Indiana sided with Monsanto and awarded the company $84,456 for Bowman's unlicensed use of Monsanto's technology. A federal appeals court in Washington upheld the award, saying farmers may never replant Roundup Ready seeds without running afoul of Monsanto's patents.

    The Supreme Court will grapple with the limit of Monsanto's patent rights, whether they stop with the sale of the first crop of beans -- or extend to each new crop soybean farmers grow that has the gene modification that allows it to withstand the application of weed killer.
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    rambone

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    :coffee:

    High court seems to favor Monsanto in patent case
    The Supreme Court appeared likely Tuesday to side with Monsanto Co. in its claim that an Indiana farmer violated the company's patents on soybean seeds that are resistant to its weed-killer.

    None of the justices in arguments at the high court seemed ready to endorse farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman's argument that cheap soybeans he bought from a grain elevator are not covered by the Monsanto patents, even though most of them also were genetically modified to resist the company's Roundup herbicide.
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    steveh_131

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    I don't see any difference between this and any other type of imaginary property prosecution.

    He is duplicating someone else's imaginary property. How is it any different than pirating a movie?
     

    GunnerDan

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    I don't see any difference between this and any other type of imaginary property prosecution.

    He is duplicating someone else's imaginary property. How is it any different than pirating a movie?

    From what I have understood that if a bee gets pollen from a Monsanto plant and fertilizes a non-Monsanto plant then the farmer is in trouble.

    Gunner
     

    88GT

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    From what I have understood that if a bee gets pollen from a Monsanto plant and fertilizes a non-Monsanto plant then the farmer is in trouble.

    Gunner

    Excepting this reality, I find it hard to side with people who violate the terms of purchase, no matter how idiotic/absurd they [the terms] might be.

    If people want to stop this crap, then stop buying from Monsanto or anybody else for that matter. Start doing it the old-fashioned way.
     

    steveh_131

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    Excepting this reality, I find it hard to side with people who violate the terms of purchase, no matter how idiotic/absurd they [the terms] might be.

    If people want to stop this crap, then stop buying from Monsanto or anybody else for that matter. Start doing it the old-fashioned way.

    Usually I side with the free market as well.

    Unfortunately, Monsanto and the government are making sure it is anything but a free market.
     

    88GT

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    Usually I side with the free market as well.

    Unfortunately, Monsanto and the government are making sure it is anything but a free market.

    Yes, I know that. But in this case, it's about questioning the premise, not the conclusion. Can Monsanto hold a farmer responsible for a wild animal cross-pollinating? :dunno:

    However, people are still well aware of the limitations of Monsanto products and all the strings that come tied to them. I still hold, despite all of the ridiculous that is part and parcel of this scenario, that no one is coercing the buyer and that the buyer is not operating without pertinent information. Ergo, it's about as close to a free market as one can get. Voluntarily accepting known terms doesn't buy much sympathy from me.
     

    steveh_131

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    Yes, I know that. But in this case, it's about questioning the premise, not the conclusion. Can Monsanto hold a farmer responsible for a wild animal cross-pollinating? :dunno:

    However, people are still well aware of the limitations of Monsanto products and all the strings that come tied to them. I still hold, despite all of the ridiculous that is part and parcel of this scenario, that no one is coercing the buyer and that the buyer is not operating without pertinent information. Ergo, it's about as close to a free market as one can get. Voluntarily accepting known terms doesn't buy much sympathy from me.

    I think we've crossed wires, here.

    You suggested that farmers purchase their seeds elsewhere, or store their own.

    Monsanto is going out of their way to prevent both of these options. They've got the government putting all sorts of regulations on seed drying facilities and on the farmers themselves, to prevent the infringement of their imaginary property rights, making the practice dangerous and cost-prohibitive.

    There are also various anti-trust issues to be considered.
     

    88GT

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    I think we've crossed wires, here.

    You suggested that farmers purchase their seeds elsewhere, or store their own.

    Monsanto is going out of their way to prevent both of these options. They've got the government putting all sorts of regulations on seed drying facilities and on the farmers themselves, to prevent the infringement of their imaginary property rights, making the practice dangerous and cost-prohibitive.

    There are also various anti-trust issues to be considered.

    Ooh, yes. Crossed wires.

    I've not heard of the restrictions on seed drying facilities. Do you have any links handy? (I can look them up later if not.)

    Why don't we hear about any of these problems from the other seed "manufacturers" though? And unless Monsanto is just a parent company and the seeds are labeled by another name, I can say with a fair degree of confidence that Monsanto is NOT the main source of seed around these parts. Not based on the signage at the end of the fields anyway.
     

    steveh_131

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    More info:

    http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/pubs/CFSMOnsantovsFarmerReport1.13.05.pdf

    With its domination of the U.S. seed market, Monsanto has put farmers between a rock and a hard place. For many farmers across the country, it has become difficult if not impossible, to find high quality, conventional varieties of corn, soy, and cotton seed. Making matters worse, the direction of land-grant university research has been shifting away from producing new conventional
    seed varieties and toward biotech applications. Research on conventional crops is now minimal and patents have replaced public ownership of these new varieties.

    While statistics on the availability of conventional seed are difficult to find, anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that Monsanto’s varieties of genetically engineered seeds have effectively pushed other seed varieties off the market. Indiana soybean farmer Troy Roush says, “You can’t even purchase them in this market. They’re not available.”

    A farmer from Arkansas concurs: “It’s getting harder and harder to find conventional [soybean] seed.” A Texas cotton farmer similarly reports: “Just about the only cottonseed you can get these days is [genetically engineered]. Same thing with the corn varieties. There’s not too many seeds available that are not genetically altered in some way.”
     
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    It's absolutely sickening how many Monsanto "employees" (mainly higher ups) are appointed positions in our gov't, including but not limited to the dept of agriculture, and the FDA. To say there is a major conflict of intrest here would be a gross understatement
     

    xring62

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    Monsanto is eVIL ,I seen them do that to a Canadian farmer in a worse way, pollen blew from one field to his ,Monsanto sued him for stealing , that is so wrong. SCREW Monsanto. I wont buy nothing of theirs if I can help it.
     

    hooky

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    I have an uncle who farms around 2500 acres and just this last year finally gave in and bought round up ready corn. He finally reached a point where he couldn't find enough of the non GMO seed that he needed. Dad gave up and went that route about 6 or 7 years ago.
     
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