Monsanto Win Case Against Canadian Farmer
In the wake of the EU decision allowing GM sweetcorn into Europe, comes the news that Monsanto have a final appeal in their case against Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser.
Monsanto own a patent on GM modified "Roundup Ready" canola...which has been engineered for resistance to Monsanto's Roundup pesticide.
A farmer who plants RR Canola must sign a license agreement with Monsanto that he/she will not "save" the seeds from one year's crop to plant again the next year. Instead, a new batch of seed must be purchased from Monsanto. The company sends inspectors to carry out checks on fields to make sure that their intellectual property is not being "pirated" by "unscrupulous" farmers. Rather like TV license inspectors...
Percy Schmeiser, a farmer and local politician, never purchased or grew Monsanto seed - not being a great fan of GM crops. In 1998 a Monsanto inspector (trespassing on Schmeiser's land) discovered a small patch of RR canola growing on Schmeiser's farm and informed him that he could either pay damages to Monsanto or have his entire canola crop destroyed.
Schmeiser claimed that the seeds had blown in from a neighbour's farm and ventured the opinion that it was lucky he wasn't taking Monsanto to court for contaminating his crops. He also wasn't particularly happy about the trespassing.
Monsanto sued him, saying that it was immaterial whether the canola had been planted by Schmeiser illegally or it had blown in...it was still their property and they wanted blood.
Now, it seems to me that this is an open and shut case. All the evidence I've seen points to the fact that Schmeiser was blameless in all this - and had in fact every reason to be annoyed at the fact that his crop had been contaminated. This is aside from the fact that it is ridiculous to grant anyone a patent on a living organism.
Unfortunately, after many years of legal wrangling, the Canadian Supreme Court yesterday rendered a judgment in favour of Monsanto.
While seemingly agreeing with Schmeiser that he had done nothing illegal, the court nonetheless found that:
"By cultivating a plant containing the patented gene and composed of the patented cells without license, [the Schmeisers] thus deprived Monsanto of the full enjoyment of its monopoly."
Monsanto welcomed the decision as "setting a new standard in intellectual property protection".
Monsanto own a patent on GM modified "Roundup Ready" canola...which has been engineered for resistance to Monsanto's Roundup pesticide.
A farmer who plants RR Canola must sign a license agreement with Monsanto that he/she will not "save" the seeds from one year's crop to plant again the next year. Instead, a new batch of seed must be purchased from Monsanto. The company sends inspectors to carry out checks on fields to make sure that their intellectual property is not being "pirated" by "unscrupulous" farmers. Rather like TV license inspectors...
Percy Schmeiser, a farmer and local politician, never purchased or grew Monsanto seed - not being a great fan of GM crops. In 1998 a Monsanto inspector (trespassing on Schmeiser's land) discovered a small patch of RR canola growing on Schmeiser's farm and informed him that he could either pay damages to Monsanto or have his entire canola crop destroyed.
Schmeiser claimed that the seeds had blown in from a neighbour's farm and ventured the opinion that it was lucky he wasn't taking Monsanto to court for contaminating his crops. He also wasn't particularly happy about the trespassing.
Monsanto sued him, saying that it was immaterial whether the canola had been planted by Schmeiser illegally or it had blown in...it was still their property and they wanted blood.
Now, it seems to me that this is an open and shut case. All the evidence I've seen points to the fact that Schmeiser was blameless in all this - and had in fact every reason to be annoyed at the fact that his crop had been contaminated. This is aside from the fact that it is ridiculous to grant anyone a patent on a living organism.
Unfortunately, after many years of legal wrangling, the Canadian Supreme Court yesterday rendered a judgment in favour of Monsanto.
While seemingly agreeing with Schmeiser that he had done nothing illegal, the court nonetheless found that:
"By cultivating a plant containing the patented gene and composed of the patented cells without license, [the Schmeisers] thus deprived Monsanto of the full enjoyment of its monopoly."
Monsanto welcomed the decision as "setting a new standard in intellectual property protection".
posted by batgimp | 4:26 p.m.
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