Monsanto v. Percy Schmeiser

Canada High Court Backs Monsanto In Seed Dispute

Dow Jones Newswires 21may04

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[ Monsanto  |  Percy Schmeiser ]

OTTAWA (AP)—Canada's top court ruled Friday against a farmer accused of patent infringement for using a genetically engineered seed that he insisted had arrived on his field by accident.

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld a lower court ruling in favor of Monsanto Co. (MON), which makes a canola variety found on the Saskatchewan farm of Percy Schmeiser . The canola was engineered to resist the U.S. company's powerful Roundup weedkiller.

The seven-year legal battle has become a cause for biotechnology opponents and proponents around the globe, dating to 1997 when Monsanto found the gene-altered plant growing on the farm.

Monsanto issued a statement praising the decision, calling it "good news for farmers and Canadians, all of (whom) benefit from the innovative work that is going on across the country to produce more abundant, high quality food."

Monsanto alleged that Schmeiser obtained its seeds without paying for them. Schmeiser argued the Roundup Ready canola seed arrived by accident, either from blowing off a passing truck or by cross-pollination from nearby fields.

Two lower courts have rejected his explanation, saying it was more likely Schmeiser planted the seed himself.

Schmeiser grew about 1,000 acres of the canola in 1988 before Monsanto got an injunction.

Schmeiser will have to turn over any remaining crops and seeds under Friday's ruling. But the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling ordering him to pay the profits from the sale of his 1998 crop. The profits were just shy of US$14,400.

Forty percent of the overall canola crop in Canada is Monsanto-Roundup Ready variety.

Monsanto stock rose 25 cents to $33.45 a share in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange after the ruling.

Corrected May 21, 2004 14:10 ET (18:10 GMT)

The profits were just shy of US$14,400.

(In an item timed at 11:41 a.m. EDT (1541 GMT), the amount of money the farmer made from the crop was misstated.)