Courts Dismiss Monsanto Suit
28 February 2012 ST. LOUIS – US courts dismissed a lawsuit this week against Monsanto that alleged organic farmers could be held accountable for patent-infringement if cross-contamination of the company’s biotechnology traits occurs.
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York officially dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) and dozens of other plaintiff growers and organizations against Monsanto.
OSGATA and plaintiffs in the case alleged that they did not want to grow crops containing Monsanto’s biotechnology traits, but feared a patent-infringement suit in the event the company’s traits happened to enter their fields inadvertently through, for example, cross-pollination.
The court rejected the lawsuit, finding that OSGATA and plaintiffs had engaged in a “transparent effort to create a controversy where none exists.” The court also held that there was no “case or controversy” on the matter as Monsanto had not taken any action or even suggested to take any action against any of the plaintiffs.
In its ruling, the court cited Monsanto’s long-standing public commitment that “it has never been, nor will it be, Monsanto policy to exercise its patent rights where trace amounts of our patented seeds or traits are present in a farmer’s fields as a result of inadvertent means.”
“This decision is a win for all farmers as it underscores that agricultural practices such as ag biotechnology, organic and conventional systems do and will continue to effectively coexist in the agricultural marketplace,” said David F. Snively, Monsanto’s executive vice president, secretary and general counsel in a statement. “Importantly, this ruling tore down a historic myth which is commonly perpetuated against our business by these plaintiffs and other parties through the internet, noting that not only were such claims unsubstantiated but, more importantly, they were unjustified.”
The case is Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association et al. v. Monsanto Company et al., No. 1:11-cv-2163-NRB (S.D.N.Y.).
Source: Monsanto, Edited by Stefanie A. Toth, Online Editor
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