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Health & Fitness

Patent Law will Protect Advancements in Ag Technology

The Supreme Court's decision in favor of protecting Monsanto's intellectual property was crucial for the protection of innovations in ag biotech.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of patents for self-replicating products

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of protecting Monsanto’s intellectual property in the case between Monsanto and Indiana Farmer, Vernon Bowman.

The Court ruled that Bowman was breaking the law by replanting seeds harvested from a crop of genetically-modified soybean plants, which were originally patented by Monsanto.

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Monsanto requires that any farmer who uses their seed, sign a technology licensing agreement that stipulates that they won’t plant seeds harvested in the previous season which gives Monsanto the opportunity to recover costs on their research and development investments.

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The decision reaffirms lower courts previous decisions and the basic purpose of the U.S. patent system – providing an incentive to innovate by providing inventors a meaningful opportunity to recover costs on their R&D investments.

The outcome of this case was crucial for the protection of innovations in ag biotech as well as in other fields such as medicine, computer science, and environmental science.

This victory provides assurance to the industry to continue to invest in innovations as technology and innovation play a critical role in supporting the agriculture industry and the world’s growing needs and has never been more important than right now.

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