Louisiana Cotton Farmer Loses to Monsanto 

Farm Progress 18oct00

Carroll Smith, Louisiana Farmer, a Farm Progress Publication A jury recently awarded Monsanto Company and Delta and Pine Land Company about $2 million in reasonable royalties after Richland Parish cotton farmer Dallas Thomason, along with several persons and entities related to him, lost a patent infringement case in U.S. District Court in Monroe. 

In the summer of 1997, the two companies were tipped off by a number of people in the area that "there was a possibility that something was going on," said Brett Begemann, Monsanto vice president of U.S. markets. 

"We didn't want to go to court and tried to settle this dispute with the growers. When those efforts were not successful, we felt it was necessary to uphold the integrity of the licensing system for the vast majority of growers who support the technology." 

In July of '97, the two companies initiated court action for patent infringement of the Monsanto patent and also for the infringement of the certificate of protection held by Delta and Pine Land under the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA). Monsanto alleged the defendants planted almost 4,000 acres of Bollgard cotton in the 1997 growing season (from seed saved from the 1996 growing season) without a license from Monsanto. Ann Shackelford, vice president corporate services, Delta and Pine Land, said, "There was no indication they were trying to sell the seed on the open market, and it was not finally determined where they had obtained the seed, but they did not buy it from us." 

According to the court's memorandum ruling, the defendants said they obtained the seed from a licensed dealer; Monsanto's patent was invalid as a matter of law and the plaintiff's resistance to discovery impeded the defendants' ability to oppose the motion. The defendants did admit they had no express license from Monsanto to plant the seed. 

Dallas Thomason said he bought and planted eight, 50-pound bags of NuCotn 33B cottonseed in 1996 in a "brown bag sale" from Pete Mulhearn, an authorized representative of Tri-State Delta Chemical Company. According to court records, he then "saved the seed from the 1996 crop for planting in 1997 and gave the seed to his codefendants." 

However, according to the memorandum ruling, Mulhearn "could not have transferred patented seed from a properly marked bag to a brown bag for sale. In addition to there being no apparent reason for him to do such a thing, the evidence before the court is that the Monsanto gene-containing seed was carefully monitored and, according to the unrefuted testimony of Mulhearn in deposition, he had to account for every bag." 

Although Thomason claimed he didn't know it was patented seed, he was not able to produce any receipt, canceled check, invoice or other evidence to show he ever purchased Monsanto seed. There were no records at Mulhearn's company, Tri-State, showing the sale or the receipt of cash from the defendants. 

After the jury's decision had been handed down, Begemann said, "The most important thing to come out of this demonstration by the court is that they are upholding patent rights so we can continue to provide this technology to cotton farmers." 

"This decision affirms the great majority of farmers are working with us and partnering with us and going about this correctly to protect the varieties and the new technology," Shackelford adds. 

Although Louisiana Farmer contacted the office of Monroe defense attorney Donald Kneipp to obtain remarks on behalf of his clients and ascertain if he plans to file an appeal, Kneipp declined to comment. 

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