New York-- A group of 73 American organic and conventional family farmers, seed
businesses and public advocacy groups asked the U.S. Supreme Court
today to hear their case against Monsanto Company challenging the
chemical and biotech seed giant’s patents on genetically engineered
seed. In Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) et al v. Monsanto,
the plaintiffs have been forced to sue preemptively to protect
themselves from being accused of patent infringement should their fields
ever become contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically engineered seed,
something Monsanto has done to others in the past.
In a June
10th ruling earlier this year, a three-judge panel at the Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that a group of organic and
otherwise non-GMO farmer and seed company plaintiffs are not entitled to
bring a lawsuit to protect themselves from Monsanto's transgenic seed
patents "because Monsanto has made binding assurances that it will not
'take legal action against growers whose crops might inadvertently
contain traces of Monsanto biotech genes (because, for example, some
transgenic seed or pollen blew onto the grower's land).'"
"While the Court of Appeals correctly found that the farmers and seed
sellers had standing to challenge Monsanto's invalid patents, it
incorrectly found that statements made by Monsanto's lawyers during the
lawsuit mooted the case," said Daniel Ravicher, Executive Director of
the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) and lead counsel to the plaintiffs in OSGATA et al v. Monsanto.
"As a result, we have asked the Supreme Court to take the case and
reinstate the right of the plaintiffs to seek full protection from
Monsanto's invalid transgenic seed patents."
The Petition filed today by lawyers for the family farmers may be found here.
The plaintiffs brought the pre-emptive case against Monsanto in March
2011 and specifically seek to defend themselves from nearly two dozen of
Monsanto's most aggressively asserted patents on GMO seed. They were
forced to act pre-emptively to protect themselves from Monsanto's
abusive lawsuits, fearing that if GMO seed contaminates their property
despite their efforts to prevent such contamination, Monsanto will sue
them for patent infringement.
“We have been farming for almost
forty years and we have never wanted anything to do with Monsanto,”
said Jim Gerritsen, an organic seed farmer in Maine and President of
lead Plaintiff OSGATA.
“We believe we have the right to farm and grow good food the way we
choose. We don’t think it’s fair that Monsanto can trespass onto our
farm, contaminate and ruin our crops and then sue us for infringing on
their patent rights. We don’t want one penny from Monsanto. American
farmers deserve their day in Court so we can prove to the world
Monsanto’s genetically engineered patents are invalid and that farmers
deserve protection from Monsanto’s abuse.”
In the case, the
plaintiffs are asking the courts to declare that if organic farmers are
ever contaminated by Monsanto's genetically engineered seed, they need
not fear also being accused of patent infringement. One reason
justifying this result is that Monsanto's patents on genetically
engineered seed are invalid because they don't meet the “usefulness”
requirement of patent law, according to Ravicher. Evidence cited in the
plaintiffs' court filings proves that genetically engineered seed has
negative economic and health effects, while the promised benefits of
genetically engineered seed-– increased production and decreased
herbicide use-– are false.
With the rapid
adoption of Monsanto’s genetically engineered seed technology, America’s
farmers have been faced with a rampant rise in superweeds, with more
than 49 percent of U.S. farmers reporting glyphosate-resistant weeds on their
farm in 2012, up from 34 percent that farmers reported in 2011. In
addition, scientists are reporting the growing failures of Monsanto’s
genetically engineered insecticide-corn, with reports from scientists in
the Midwestern corn belt states detailing the rise of super insects
becoming resistant to the genetically engineered Bt toxin, leaving
farmers vulnerable to the voracious corn rootworm, the number one threat
to corn farmers.
“For the past twenty years, Monsanto has used
its political and financial power to foist a deeply flawed technology
on America’s farmers, consistently underestimating the real risks of
genetic engineering while putting America’s farmers, the environment and
the public in harm’s way simply in the name of profit,” said Dave
Murphy, founder and executive director of Food Democracy Now!,
a grassroots movement of more than 650,000 farmers and citizens.
More information about PUBPAT's suit against Monsanto's seed patents can be found at PUBPAT > Monsanto Seed Patents.
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