|
''Bowman v. Monsanto Co.'', 569 U.S. ___ (2013) is a United States Supreme Court patent decision in which the Court unanimously affirmed the Federal Circuit, and held that the patent exhaustion doctrine does not permit a farmer to plant and grow saved, patented seeds without the patent owner's permission. The decision held that Bowman's conduct infringed the patent rights of the patent owner, Monsanto. The case garnered attention in part because of its potential impact on genetic and self-replicating technologies, political concerns over the passage of an unrelated bill drafted in part by Monsanto, and the involvement of Justice Clarence Thomas, who previously served as a lawyer for Monsanto. The narrow scope of the ruling limited the impact of the case and did not set a broad legal precedent. ==Background== Monsanto developed patents for genetically modified soybeans that were resistant to glyphosate-based herbicides. These soybeans were sold under a limited use license that prohibited the farmer-buyer from using the seeds for more than a single season or from saving any seed produced from the crop for replanting.〔 In 1999, Indiana farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman bought soybean seeds from a local grain elevator for his second crop of the season. He then saved seeds from his second crop to replant additional crops in later years.〔 Bowman purchased these seeds from the same elevator where he and neighbors sold their crops, many of which were transgenic,〔 and the elevator sold soybeans as commodities, not as seeds for planting.〔〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Monsanto Co. v. Bowman (Fed. Cir. 2011) )〕 He tested the new seeds, and found that as he had expected, some were transgenic and thus were resistant to glyphosate〔 He replanted seeds from the original second harvest in subsequent years for his second seasonal planting, supplementing them with more soybeans he bought at the elevator.〔 He informed Monsanto of his activities.〔〔 Monsanto stated that he was infringing their patents because the soybeans he bought from the elevator were new products that he purchased for use as seeds without a license from Monsanto; Bowman stated that he had not infringed due to patent exhaustion on the first sale of seed to whatever farmers had produced the crops that he bought from the elevator, on the grounds that for seed, all future generations are embodied in the first generation that was originally sold.〔 Bowman had previously purchased and planted Monsanto seeds under a license agreement promising not to save seeds from the resulting crop,〔 but that agreement was not relevant to his purchase of soybean seed from the grain elevator nor to the litigation.〔 In 2007, Monsanto sued Bowman for patent infringement in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.〔〔〔''(Monsanto Co. v. Bowman )'', .〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bowman v. Monsanto Co.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|