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[ Monsanto
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In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the rights of American biotechnology giant Monsanto Co. to protect its patented genetically engineered seeds.
The court ruled Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser infringed upon Monsanto's rights when he planted the company's patented herbicide resistant canola seeds without the company's permission.
But in an unexpected twist, the court also relieved the 73-year-old farmer of the burden of paying Monsanto nearly $19,832 in profit he earned on the disputed crop and $153,000 in Monsanto's legal expenses.
The closely watched decision, capping a six-year David-and-Goliath like battle, is seen as a huge win for the biotech industry and a devastating loss for the critics of genetic engineering.
In an era when genetic tinkering plays a role in everything from cancer research to heart disease, the larger biotech industry feared a negative decision would cast an investment chill over Canada.
"The Supreme Court has set a world standard in intellectual property protection and this ruling maintains Canada as an attractive investment opportunity," Monsanto executive vice-president Carl Casale said in a statement yesterday.
The decision also gave the $4.9 billion-a-year St. Louis, Mo.-based global leader in plant sciences a much-needed boost a week after it withdrew plans to develop genetically altered wheat under pressure from critics.
But Schmeiser and his supporters, a coalition of consumers, environmentalists and farmers, called the court ruling a huge setback.
The National Farmers Union said it violates the long-standing right of farmers to harvest and develop their own seeds and effectively hands control of Canada's farms to giant multinationals.
The Council of Canadians vowed to take the battle to the political level and warned Monsanto could yet lose in the court of public opinion.
"They should realize this victory will be short lived given consumers' resistance to genetic engineering of their food supply," said council spokesperson Nadege Adam.
Schmeiser, who became something of an anti-biotech folk hero, travelling the world speaking to like-minded groups, estimated the toll on himself and his family in mental and financial stress at half a million dollars. He called the decision to relieve him of paying his profits and Monsanto's court costs a "personal victory" and huge relief. "I won't have to give up my home."
The battle dates to 1998, when Monsanto sued Schmeiser for planting its herbicide resistant seed, Roundup Ready Canola, over 95 per cent of his fields without paying the company a licensing fee of $15 an acre.
Schmeiser insisted he wasn't aware the seeds contained the Monsanto gene, which makes canola resistant to its weed killer Roundup. Schmeiser said he had simply harvested the seeds, as he has for 50 years, from plants growing on his land.
How those initial plants got on his land in the first place was never resolved. Schmeiser said the seeds must have blown in or fallen off a truck.
The court reinforced its decision 18 months earlier to prohibit the patenting of higher life forms, such as animals and plants. But a slim majority of the court yesterday ruled 5-4 that a patent on a gene gives a company control of the use of the entire plant. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Louise Arbour said the court had effectively undermined its previous position.
In an effort to recognize the uncontrollable nature of higher life forms, the court also said patent infringement couldn't be claimed if the seed just blew into someone's field — unless they exploited that situation for their own commercial benefit.
Schmeiser didn't have to pay up because he never sprayed the crop with Roundup so didn't benefit from the gene's properties. Monsanto retains the right to claim financial damages against farmers who knowingly use its seeds without paying the licensing fee, spokesperson Trish Jordan said.
The complex decision has turned Canada's patent law into a "confusing mess," said Richard Gold, a patent law expert at Montreal's McGill University.
He wasn't optimistic it would get sorted out any time soon by Parliament.
Greenpeace Canada spokesperson Pat Venditti said, "the court has held that Monsanto can continue polluting farmers' fields and keep menacing them with costly lawsuits."
source: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1085177408517 22may04
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