PROFIT OVER PEOPLE

Wired News: Monsanto Prevails In Patent Fight

The Canadian Supreme Court Friday narrowly upheld a ruling against a farmer who used genetically modified canola seeds patented by Monsanto while replanting his field.

In a 5-4 decision, the court sided with the biotech giant, which sued Percy Schmeiser in 1997 after Monsanto agents found the company's patented gene in canola plants on his farm near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The court agreed that he stole Monsanto's seed, even though Schmeiser maintained that he inadvertently used seed that had blown into his field.

Despite the ruling, Schmeiser, 73, said the decision is a personal victory because the court also ruled that he did not profit from the seed. Schmeiser will not have to pay the $200,000 sought by Monsanto to cover court costs and the profit the company said Schmeiser had gained by using its seed.

Also at issue is the ability to patent a higher life form (including plants), which was previously barred by Canadian law. But the legislation was written a century ago, before genetic modification was considered, and Schmeiser's supporters are urging Parliament to update the law.

"Our original intent was to not allow the patenting of higher life forms," said Nadege Adams, a spokeswoman for the Council of Canadians. "This was lost today. The Supreme Court said you don't have to patent the higher life form, just the gene, and you have control over the whole organism."

Washington Post: Monsanto Beats Farmer in Patent Fight

Sometimes, Goliath wins.

Capping a seven-year, globally watched legal battle between biotechnology giant Monsanto Co. and a scrappy 73-year-old Saskatchewan farmer, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled yesterday that Percy Schmeiser violated Monsanto's patent by growing the company's high-tech canola and saving the valuable seeds produced by those plants.

The landmark 5 to 4 decision marks the first time a high court in any country has ruled on how extensively a company can control a farmer's use of its gene-altered seeds and plants. By affirming broad proprietary rights for Monsanto in Canada -- a country that allows only limited patents on life forms and is considered relatively friendly to farmers' rights -- the court set both national and global precedents that strengthen the hand of agricultural biotechnology corporations.