Monsanto can hold plant patent: Supreme Court of Canada

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H. E. Taylor - 21 May 2004 22:02 GMT

2004/05/21: CBC: Monsanto can hold plant patent: Supreme Court

OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada ruled against a
Saskatchewan farmer Friday, saying since U.S. biotechnology giant
Monsanto holds a patent on a gene in its canola plant, it can control
the use of the plant.

In a 5-4 decision, the court upheld Monsanto's patent over its
Roundup Ready canola plant gene, ruling Percy Schmeiser infringed
on the company's patent by growing the plant without a licence.

The company inserts a gene into a canola plant to make it
pesticide-resistant. Monsanto holds patents over the gene and the
insertion process, and argued the patent should extend to control of
the plant.
[...]
<http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/05/21/canada/schmeiser_monsanto040521>

<regards>
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Ian St. John - 22 May 2004 00:19 GMT

> 2004/05/21: CBC: Monsanto can hold plant patent: Supreme Court
>
> OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada ruled against a
> Saskatchewan farmer Friday, saying since U.S. biotechnology giant
> Monsanto holds a patent on a gene in its canola plant, it can control
> the use of the plant.

However, it is also clear that the court erred in this claim since the
'plants' were not from monsanto, but canola plants that had been
accidentally fertilised by monsantos plants and thus incorporated the gene
in about 30% of the crop. Really Percy should be able to sue Monsanto for
'littering' and destroying his organic seed varietal.

> In a 5-4 decision, the court upheld Monsanto's patent over its
> Roundup Ready canola plant gene, ruling Percy Schmeiser infringed
> on the company's patent by growing the plant without a licence.

Pretty close. I guess the biotech giant had better lobbyists than the poor
farmer.

> The company inserts a gene into a canola plant to make it
> pesticide-resistant. Monsanto holds patents over the gene and the
> insertion process, and argued the patent should extend to control of
> the plant.

And the plants that it fertilises or that get cross bred or similar weeds
that incorportate the gene or... They may want to steal the wheat crops on
land that has been contaminated by blown monsanto seeds and which thus are
hard to farm since you have to uproot the plants by hand because of the
pesticide resistance. The seeds can live for many years in the soil before
coming up agains. Effectively they may end up owning all farms just by the
fact that the seeds are designed to blow for miles, are numerous ( up to
30,000 in each plant ) and are so hardy.

> [...]
> <http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/05/21/canada/schmeiser_monsanto040521>
>
> <regards>
> -het

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Ian St. John - 23 May 2004 09:50 GMT

>> 2004/05/21: CBC: Monsanto can hold plant patent: Supreme Court
>>
>> OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada ruled against a
>> Saskatchewan farmer Friday, saying since U.S. biotechnology giant
>> Monsanto holds a patent on a gene in its canola plant, it can control
>> the use of the plant.

Update: Actually they ruled in his favor in all but the one item of whether
plants could be patented.

www.percyschmeiser.com
Canada's Supreme Court to Announces Their Decision
The Supreme Court of Canada has announced their decision on Schmeiser's
appeal. Schmeiser views the decision as a draw as the Court determines
Monsanto's patent is valid, but Schmeiser is not forced to pay Monsanto
anything as he did not profit from the presence of RR canola in his fields.
Read the Supreme Court judgment here.
<http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/rec/html/2004scc034.wpd.html>

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Natural Science Forum / Biology / Biology / May 2004

Monsanto can hold plant patent: Supreme Court of Canada