Can a company own a strain of DNA inside of a seed that’s grown and harvested by an individual? The answer appears to be yes, according to a decision handed down by the “highest” court in the land last week.
The Supreme Court’s decision raises fresh concerns about the decaying state of America’s agriculture. In this particular case, a farmer in Indiana was ordered to pay Monsanto $84,000 for seeds that he purchased from a local grain elevator!
Seed form grain elevators is typically used as feed, but this farmer chose to plant his seeds, grew a late-season crop of Monsanto’s Roundup-Ready soybeans, and harvested the seeds… which the Supreme Court determined was a violation of Monsanto’s patent.
It’s a shockingly twisted outcome to think that a corporation can own multiple generations of a self-reproducing seed, but that’s what is happening — and it’s quickly spiraling out of control.
Folks, American agriculture is about the go down a road where there’s no turning back…
If Monsanto can own the rights to multiple generations of seeds, then why couldn’t the same be true of livestock, fish, shrimp, and even pets. Every type of food we produce in this country could soon be subject to patent-law.
From the New York Times:
Farmers who buy Monsanto’s patented seeds must generally sign a contract promising not to save seeds from the resulting crop, which means they must buy new seeds every year. The seeds are valuable because they are resistant to the herbicide Roundup, itself a Monsanto product.
But the Indiana farmer, Vernon Hugh Bowman, who had signed such contracts for his main crop, said he discovered a loophole for a second, riskier crop later in the growing season.
For that second crop, he bought seeds from a grain elevator filled with a mix of seeds in the reasonable hope that many of them contained Monsanto’s patented Roundup Ready gene.
Seeds from grain elevators are typically sold for animal feed, food processing or industrial uses. But Mr. Bowman planted them and sprayed them with Roundup. Many plants survived, and he replanted their seeds.
Monsanto sued, and a federal judge in Indiana ordered Mr. Bowman to pay the company more than $84,000. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which specializes in patent cases, upheld that decision, saying that by planting the seeds Mr. Bowman had infringed Monsanto’s patents.
Justice Kagan agreed, suggesting that Mr. Bowman had been too clever for his own good.
Mr. Bowman’s main argument was that a doctrine called patent exhaustion allowed him to do what he liked with products he had obtained legally. But Justice Kagan said it did not apply to the way he had used the seeds.
“Under the patent exhaustion doctrine, Bowman could resell the patented soybeans he purchased from the grain elevator; so too he could consume the beans himself or feed them to his animals,” she wrote.
“But the exhaustion doctrine does not enable Bowman to make additional patented soybeans without Monsanto’s permission,” she added, and went on to say that “that is precisely what Bowman did.”
What do you think? Did the Supreme Court get it right? Let me know what you think think the comments!
No I think they are WRONG, WRONG WRONG! And that is just about the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Those Supreme court judges should be embarrassed! If they ever have to grow their own food I hope the same thing happens to them. I think we should all boycott Monsanto!
TO THE PATRIOT CALLER..all the government wants is to have full control of us .and make up laws to do as they see fit to them.we cant evan use our own seeds to grow our own food..so they make up a laws to control us..and they want us to by monsanto,seeds onlythat they spray with round up with chemicals..that are no good for us..so it will do our bodys no good..and then they raise the cost of food very high..where must people cant afford food..and i know a lot of people that to go into dumpsters and get bad food and eat it..not good..and that what the government wants..to starve us…we need to pull as a team and work together and write our sentores and our congression men and the ladys and our rep..and all of the big wigs in washington..and we need to get together and go there and say what we feel about they are doing to us..but again we need to work as team and do this all of us…GOD BLESS AMERICA.. C.J…THATS ALL..
The Supreme Court was wrong on this one. A company cannot expect to have its byproducts, and their byproducts, and their byproducts, and on and on, protected in perpetuity – we could say that a patented fuel used to power machinery that makes products has an interest in those products because their “patented” fuel mixture produced the power that enabled the “widgets” to be made – have we gone crazy here?
Revolution.
We need to get rid of all HMO seeds they are all bad.Or we will be like the EU banning heirloom seeds so we can’t feed our selves
may 20, 2013 at 8:47 PM
I’ve thought it over for several hours and believe you’re right. Hope I’m not this slow and late when it starts.
Big money controls and governs the supremes just as it does the other two branches.
Now that the cat is finally out of the bag for the rest of the ppl to really see what this country is all about . Why do you think that a lot of the ppl in this country are building bunkers to live in and store food and have there own water source . And we have a deficit that can never be payed off and ppl are buying up silver and gold and copper platinum because of things like this and the biggest thing they want our guns so now we can’t grow chickens pigs cows crops and can’t protect our selves either I’m sorry I don’t trust this Government anymore and I don’t think most of the other ppl do either they’re just afraid to say it.
I agree with Murray! Our govenment has went nuts! Are you kidding me! Seeds! Out of all things! America has lost everything she stands for!
If this nation is stupid enough to reelect people who have shown they are enemies of the state, I guess this is no surprise. This is so ignorant and stupid it just makes you wonder where this nation is going. If by products of food or seeds can be sued over whats next? We are getting so sue happy its totally ridiculous. What happened to common sense?
Has anybody heard about the “Monsanto Food Saftey Act” passed in late 2009 that turns all food inspections over to them!
This is also why you cannot have your own garden and give any produce from it away! If you do you and your neighbor will be jailed for “smuggling!” Monsantos is a Blight of Blight on the whole planet! Wait until someone patents the very air we breathe–we will all stop breathing them—now there is a new idea!
Go for getting the law changed to something that makes sense. bob robison
The lazy assed farmer was a cheat and a thief. He got what was coming to him.
These @#!@$# are but fallen angels, they are all demons, and this shit is just the begining, to control the masses-
” Gain Control of the food supply, and you will control the people!” There is spiritual warfare rageing, all around us, but people with eyes are not seeing the @#$#$@ being shoved in their faces, the #@#$@% destroying and manipulating their very lives, and the lives of our loved ones. We are ALL in for a very RUDE BRUTAL AWAKENING- REAL SOON. It saddens me as too many people, are not even aware of the agenda, of the illuminiti- type that word or genesis6giants by steve quale into utube videos and listen and learn. throw your tv out the door and get a taste of the real news. Watch the Wake-up series on utube. Murray, ‘ Revolution’ is an under statement….
I see we have a gutless whimp monitoring this websit. I repete the lazyassed farmer got what he deserved. Hes a cheat and a thief. I lived in a Menonite community in Missouri. They saved and planted there seed every year from generation to generation. They cultivate there crops mechanically and don’t count on Monsanto to provide them with poison in a jug or in a seed.
Kts bs
The “supreme Court is no longer a independent branch of the goverment. They are strictlly political…and in the pockets of the corporation, We the People must push back, pass out flyers, Inform others…forward this e-mail…(they are trying to kill us slowly)explan…explain, explain, and organize!!PUSH BACK!!
The issue here is NOT if the court got it right. The issue is WHY is the court hearing a case about patented soybeans seeds. What short sited, bureaucratic genius thought it would be a good idea to issue a patent on a seed? Authority to issue patents on seeds?…………….Really?…………… Dupont is a big co. but they did not Create soybean seeds. Wonder who got issued the patent on Dirt……….
This is truly a total disaster for American and world wide seed planning operations. The seeds belong to the farmer once he has purchased them. What He chooses to do with them is up to him not some multinational corporation. This is why Obama signed a “Monsanto protection law” what an evil bastard we have in our Whitehouse indeed. Past time for an impeachment, time for Arrest, trial, and execution. How do we boycott the largest seed producer in the world without creating a major void in the food production process. Something should be done I am just not sure exactly what at this time
Hey, farmers still have the option to NOT buy GMO seeds and sign contracts that they will/will not do this or that with the plants that grow. OK, Monsanto might be the Big Devil and I totally agree that the government wants to make us all “prolls” and/or slaves–people have always treated each other like that–but the farmer still breached the contract.
Preemtive seed laws have been making their way through the states legislature as a trump card for the big agra business. The idea is to override the local government from changing anything pertaining to seeds!
Check this out!
http://www.environmentalcommons.org/preemption-undemocratic.html
Our words mean nothing! What the government is hoping for is that we, as a society, simply follows their laws! When we decide to ignore all their greedy laws and simply do what we want we will take away their power!
If nobody voted what would happen?????
My most humble appologies to the Patriot Caller, I thought that my decenting oppinion was being blocked last night. In the original Tea Party there were thieves in the crowd, they were quickly repremended by the Patriots and forced to empty the tea from thier pockets. It took the law to empty this guys pockets. To me this lawsuit is just a nothing fight between a chemical farmer who doesn’t want to take care of his land by the long standing rules of agriculture and a chemical company that thinks they can do a better job than our creator.
WHAT THE HELL HAVE WE ALL GONE CRAZY. Our government used to have at least one ball now the have no balls what about cows and chickens do they own them to. we need to put our foot down on our governments neck and make this crap stop next thing you know we will have to ask if its ok to wipe our butts. No wonder people are digging holes to live in. are we going back to the stone age???
monsato, you can kiss my red blooded American rear end right where it puckers……… IF, I buy your seeds I will plant and replant until you pay your bill to God from which YOU got your seeds to start with…..
Tally HO!!!!
This is insanely ridiculous! What the hell is wrong wuth our country? We r becoming a dictatorship country!? Corporate America wants to conttol way too much,they didnt work for that mans harvest so why should they benufit from it? He purchased the seed and what he does with it is none of there business!
Jim it went out with the voted in numnuts that are running the show ppl have to remember that we voted them in and we don’t have to vote them out if there not doing there jobs we just have the federal Marshals
Remove them march them right off to prison where they belong the ppl of this country are brainwashed and have forgotten that we are the Goverment they are just there to represent us ppl remember we are the goverment not them they just work for us so its time for a new goverment time for a complete house cleaning like the good old ones that remember when we were kids and grandmother or your mom would do open all
The doors get rid of all the old air beat the rugs hang them out clean the floors and so on well that’s what we need to do now you start getting rid of a few of them and the rest will sharpen there pencils
Really fast ppl just seem to think the goverment are un- touchable ppl wake up you are the goverment .
Everyone here is angry because it seems like it is a battle between the big, ole, nasty mega-company and a little guy. It’s not. This is an issue of private property. If you invent something, do you not have a right to control what is done with it? He used seeds that he knew were for one purpose – the purchase of them was an implied contract – for another. Just as buying a DVD does not give you the right to copy it, so you do not have the right to use patented, genetically modified seeds for any purpose than what you agreed to when you bought them. This farmer thought he could sneak by the agreements he signed and steal the seeds he wanted.
People seem to feel that they have a right to what other people produce. THEY DO NOT!!!! What an individual or a company, large or small, creates belongs to them. And just because you “NEED” it or “WANT” it does not give you the right to have it. And if you buy something with restrictions, then you are obligated to live up to your word as to how you use it.
I own a small company. Over the past 8 years, we’ve spent a great deal of money we could not really afford to create a new product. After 8 years our patent came through. However, already we have two companies trying to sneak and make a product identical to ours, one of which has, essentially, stolen early proprietary technology. So, now we are going to have to fight them – one is a small company, one is a multi-national.
It usually takes a very large company to create new products because the investment in time and money is incredible. So, when you lambaste a large company because they protect their patent rights, keep in mind, that, if they couldn’t protect those rights and make the money they do, they would have no money to create new products.
If you want a special seed and not pay for or live up to the contract you signed with the company that created it, then create one yourself.
Next the big boys will be harvesting our hearts . The big hospitals are probably doing it already.Its all about $$$$$$$$
This guy Jack is soma kind of fricken idiot he talks out of rearend not his mouth.
The SCOTUS is out of control. First they rule corporations are the same as people, then they rule the affordable care act legal, and now this. Something must be done.
Has anyone noticed how these big companies have monopolized on the small farmers.I think Monsanto and the others should be sued for contaminating organic seeds that don’t cause human or animal health problems like “wheat belly”. Come on people when are you gonna realize tampering with Mother Nature is gonna have devastating effects to future generations. If bugs don’t eat it, it’s not safe for humans or livestock.
Those wanting to help this cause, may wish to check Organic Consumer’s Association. They are wonderfully fighting against this situation of ‘FRANKENFOODS” These people are “in he trenches’ with this fight.
Also, a very informative and helpful site is drmercola.com.for your health issues. He is an MD who believes in alternative therapies/ natural healing, and his own orthodox field to the extent that it is followed with integrity.
Jan
Rick I am with you all the way. You have hit the nail on the head. I also do not trust our Government. Our President
is the same as a crook. He should be locked up,and put the rest of his people in with him.
How about not buying anything with the name “Monsanto” on it? Sure, it’s inconvenient, more expensive, maybe less productive but you either want to stop them or support them. Shop local, too. I don’t need tomatoes from California or shrimp from China if they were grown by Monsanto. I’ll pass, thanks.
I think we should reconsider some “freedoms” in our country. First, food, water and utilities should be regulated by the state to ensure a consistent, reliable source for these necessary items. Price controls should be used also. I mean, does it make sense to anyone out there that an oil company should be able to extract a NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCE like oil, sell it to anyone they want, drive local prices up just because China or our enemies around the world will pay a higher price, and eventually DEPLETE this commodity that is essential to our national security? Same with food! Farmers need subsidies and in return, taxpayers deserve a stable, safe and AFFORDABLE food supply complete with price ceilings on food. Utilities the same and water also. No one should be able to set prices on water but the government and, by extension, the citizenry. Tell me why I’m wrong.
I agree with Jack, unfortunately. The farmer did what the Chinese have mastered: stole someone else’s property! If you want Monsanto Roundup resistant seeds you have to pay Monsanto and live by their rules. You can’t have it both ways. The Chinese are famous for importing our intellectual properties and then duplicating them without concern for our copyright or trademark laws. We aren’t the Chinese. At least yet.
I think we saw what happened in the last election when most of the conservative voters stayed home on election night! We elected a monster! If no one voted, think of who the powers that be would put in power: that should scare you. Things can be worse than they are.
Right on, I like your attitude Andrel!
yes
This is just the start! Does anyone know what’s in Monsonto’s seeds? What the chemical formula is suppose to do in the long run? Listening to KFI radio station and the various guests that heave been on, the majority of them have been top rated in their fields of science, business, health,astronomy, etc. Some even government & military employees….all
trying to “Blow the whistle” on the real plans of govt. Look up the Bilderberg Group, or the Illumanati (who are part of the Bilderberg Group….These people aer the EXTREMELY RICH, POWERFUL people pulling all the strings of ALL the govts.
globally. Their main concern is THEIR survival! They want to eliminate the masses of people not at their level, to reduce the population of the world (currently 7 Billion), because they believe we are a small planet, and our reso.urces are being used up. If you look at the chart of who belongs tothe Bilderberg Group, you will see that they control ALL of the CORPORATIONs in the world….they decide food, water, energy prices….they decide famine, war, diseases (who, when, how long, how many deaths they need, etc.) There is enough food produced to feed the world….but the corporations and the super rich decide how much they will produce. It’s a conspiracy against all of us “little people.”” They want absolute control….one world government, one world currency, who gets health services and who doesn’t (Obama care), loss of
freedoms (Patriot Act – search without warrants – indefinate lockup without the possibility of getting a lawyer – Spying through phones, satellites, IRS, WiFi, Drones, etc. We no longer have privacy…they can see through buildings! And the more they get people hooked on getting freebies and assistance from the govt.. the more control they gain! Yes! lets
get more people into our country lgally or not, documented or not, because these people are coming from nothing, and we’ll give them money & food and some things they don’t have in their country, and they will vote for us so they can continue to receive the pittance we give them!!!! IT MAKES ME SICK!!! How do you wizen people up? Don’t they see they are loosing their rights and freedom? TV, Hollywood, entertainment (music, songs, etc), violent games on video,& newspapers keep filling people with garbage….look at what has transpired…Foul language in all of it; explicit sex scenes,
pre and extra-marital affairs, total lack of respect for anything except the individual wants and desires; immediate gratification on demand; we don’t even control wha’ts beng taught in our schools. Family values, religious values, the Golden Rule values have all been done away with. The family is a necessary unit to develop a society….but you no longer can correct your children, they’ll turn you in for cruelty, and God fobide if you happened to swat them on their little butts, you’ll go to jail. Google, Apple, Microsoft, all of the electronic industries are in the Biderberg Group….any new electronic, or electrinc or battery operated item you bring into your house has built in spyware to see what you are doing. We need to take back our country, our principles, ur families, our integrity….we certainly need to ban together. Kay
YOU ARE WRONG Dennis! You want the gov. to control all you do, food, water and utilities? You want to reconsider your freedom? (NOT MINE! GET OUT OF MY LIFE!!!) You want price controls on everything? Go live in China! Farmers DO NOT NEED subsidies! They need the likes of Monsanto, gov., FDA, USDA, etc., off their backs! Affordable as you put it, means usually dependency, slavery, over regulation, and in fact, it is NOT affordable at all! It’s an illusion! You pay because you are taxed and overtaxed and then they kindly give you the illusion that you have affordable, clean water, food, ewtc. NO MORE LOBBIES! NO MORE big interests in bed with politicians, no more former CEOs in official, judicial, gov. positions, to keep the revolving doors in motion… no one should be able to set prices on ANYTHING but producers and consumers! It;s called FREE INITIATIVE and FREE MARKET! No better regulation: everyone votes with their choice of what to consume, what to produce, what to market! No thank you Dennis! Take your regulations with you, go live in your choice of communist country and let them walk over you, but let this Republic BE and let the brave be brave and the free be free!
Do you have any video of that? I’d like to find out more details.
Andrel Hughes said: “in the pockets of the corporation.”
First, you have to understand what a corporation is, and what it is not.
If you will inspect all of your gov’t issued documents, you will see that they are all spelled with CAPITAL LETTERS. This is no mistake. They have created for you, your own corporate identity using all CAPITAL LETTERS. This is how they tie you into their system.
For more information, go to: http://peoples-rights.com
Hi Andrel,
PLEASE CONTACT ME. at osagemann at yahoo dot com I am with you 100 % lets talk. PLEASE CONTACT ME
My name is John Keel and I live in Washington state by Spokane Wa or call 816-898-4360
John
The Supreme Court screwed up big time. By giving Monsatan the right to put its GMO seeds in any market, they have legitimized “Frankenfoods”. This is an outrage, and shows that the high court is in the pockets of the big corporations.