SoybeansWIKIMEDIA COMMONS, H. ZELL
In 2011, the Federal Circuit Court again upheld the ruling that Monsanto's patents for its genetically modified seeds can be used to stop farmers from saving and replanting the GM seeds. Monsanto had sued Indiana farmer Vernon Bowman for purchasing and replanting commodity soybeans from his local grain supplier, which were mostly Roundup Ready seeds, seeds genetically modified to resist Monsanto’s Roundup pesticides.
Bowman has now petitioned the Supreme Court with the argument that his use of the seeds is covered by patent law’s “exhaustion doctrine”—which holds that a patent holder’s rights in a particular product are “exhausted” when the product is sold to an end user, Wired Science reported. Bowman wasn’t required to sign a licensing agreement before buying commodity seeds, so he argues ...
