Supreme Court Refuses to Hear GMO Patent Case

Supreme Court Gives Monsanto Full Ability to Sue Farmers

By Heather Callaghan, Activist Post Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Do you remember the 2011 lawsuit from the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association 80+ plaintiffs (farmers and small businesses) against Monsanto? They were fighting biotech giant Monsanto's ability to sue them for patent infringement when genetically modified seeds inadvertently appear in organic/conventional fields.

Yes, were talking about the wind or insects carrying GM seeds onto another farm, which to them is considered contamination. But instead of the ability for the farmers to sue for a ruined field, they can be cleaned out in court for not having permission to plant patented seeds. Monsanto workers have been found trespassing and gathering evidence on farmers' properties. The lawsuit had sought protection from this overreach, as Monsanto has filed 140 of these suits and settled 700 without suing.

Organic farmer and President of Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) had said:

Our farmers want nothing to do with Monsanto. We are not customers of Monsanto. We don't want their seed. We don't want their gene-spliced technology. We don't want their trespass onto our farms. We don't want their contamination of our crops. We don't want to have to defend ourselves from aggressive assertions of patent infringement because Monsanto refuses to keep their pollution on their side of the fence. We want justice.

And later:

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.
A June 2013 ruling of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC conceded to the plaintiffs' argument that contamination from Monsanto seeds would occur, but ultimately dismissed them: "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)." (source)

As Rady Ananda points out, a "trace amount" in this ruling, only means less than one percent contamination of a crop! Those are not the percentages of contamination in the real world - i.e. Monsanto can sue, sue, sue. Furthermore, less than one percent contamination still leaves the integrity of an organic crop ruined. It does not settle the issue of Monsanto trespassing on private land to take samples for infringement cases.

After the federal court threw out the 2011 lawsuit based on Monsanto's assurances, OSGATA plaintiffs petitioned the Supreme Court:

However, Petitioners risk being contaminated in amounts much greater than 1%, and thus remain compelled to forgo full use of their land and adopt genetic testing of their seed supplies in order to avoid being accused of patent infringement by Respondents.

When the plaintiffs asked Monsanto to pledge not to sue, the company responded: "A blanket covenant not to sue any present or future member of petitioners' organizations would enable virtually anyone to commit intentional infringement."

The Supreme Court would not hear the case* on Monday, thereby sealing the previous decisions in the district and federal courts. Monsanto can sue with full immunity if one percent or more of a farmer's crop contains their patented seeds.

Kyle McClain, Monsanto's chief litigation counsel told Reuters: Monsanto never has and has committed it never will sue if our patented seed or traits are found in a farmer's field as a result of inadvertent means. The lower courts agreed there was no controversy between the parties, and the Supreme Court's decision not to review the case brings closure on this matter.

Source: Activist Post, Supreme Court Gives Monsanto Full Ability to Sue Farmers By Heather Callaghan, Tuesday, January 14, 2014
* Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association, et al., v. Monsanto Company, et al. Supreme Court Case No. 13-303

Heather Callaghan is a natural health blogger and food freedom activist. You can see her work at NaturalBlaze.com and ActivistPost.com. Like at Facebook.

Comments:

So, do farmers set aside their bordering land to avoid getting more than 1% of Monsanto GMO seed blowing across their fields ? 

Consumers are suspicious of genetically modified food, so much that they have asked for GMO food to be labeled as such and the FDA said no and the FDA has a revolving-door relationship with Monsanto.   

Many foreign countries will not allow GMO crops including: Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Switzerland, India and others.  Many other countries allow GMO crops including the U.S. (except a few counties in California), Canada, EU (except for opt out countries), South America.  Corn and Soy are usually GMO crops.

The good news and the bad news is that GMO crops contain their own built-in pest control chemicals.  The interest in “organic food” is the result of trying to avoid GMO food.

GMOs were developed to control pests and weeds.  But pests and weeds keep getting smarter and they are developing resistance to GMO crops, just like viruses,  We don’t know the long term health effects of GMOs, but third party testing is a good idea.

So, with pesticides in your corn and mercury in your light bulbs and vaccines and fluoride in your water and chemtrails in you air, if we increase all these chemicals enough, you may be doomed.

 Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader