U.S. Supreme Court Justices Signal Support for Monsanto on Patents

U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled support for Monsanto Co. in a clash with a farmer who used harvested soybeans to plant a new crop of beans, hinting at a victory for makers of vaccines, software and genetically modified products.

Hearing arguments today in Washington, a majority of the nine justices suggested that Monsanto has broad rights to control the use of seeds that contain its patented technology. The genetically modified seeds are used to grow more than 90 percent of the nation’s soybeans.

“Why in the world would anybody spend any money to try to improve the seed if as soon as they sold the first one anybody could grow more and have as many of those seeds as they want?” Chief Justice John Roberts said.

He and other justices signaled that they view seeds harvested from patented crops as new products with fresh patent protections. A victory for Monsanto would potentially let patent holders restrict use of self-replicating products beyond the first generation, benefiting producers of live vaccines, genetically modified salmon, and bacteria strains used in medical research. Read more >>