Monsanto wins another patent infringement case

Date:10-05-2011

Iowa State University's Center For Agricultural Law & Taxation (CALT) reports:

Monsanto Company and Monsanto Technology, LLC v. Bowman, No. 2010-1068, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 19303 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 21, 2011) (patent infringement case brought by plaintiff against farmer for planting progeny of genetically altered seeds covered by U.S. patents.

Federal district court granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiff and circuit court affirmed; defendant was one of plaintiff's licensed seed producers and defendant executed technology agreement restricting use of seed; plaintiff discovered defendant's second crop seeds (progeny of commodity seeds) contained patented Roundup Ready technology; technology agreement specified genetics could only be obtained from Monsanto or licensed dealer; plaintiff argued patent exhaustion, but court found no exemptions for research or saving seed under utility patent).