Monsanto Wins Seed Piracy Case
3 September 2008 According to Monsanto, Pilot Grove Coop violated the contract between Monsanto and farmers, which prohibits farmers from stockpiling seeds or selling second-generation seeds. The company reports that Pilot Grove acknowledged violating Monsanto’s patented Roundup Ready seed technology and accepted responsibility for damages. As part of the settlement, Pilot Grove Coop will develop and adopt a stewardship policy to avoid future patent infringement and will provide employee training through a third-party organization.
Monsanto – which said it sues over saved seed relatively rarely, as the vast majority of seed patent infringement claims were settled without the need for any legal action and that only a small fraction of its 250,000 annual customers saves seed containing patented traits – sued farmers for seed patent infringement approximately 125 times, all but eight of which were settled without trial. Monsanto won all eight trials.
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