Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2013
Abstract
Monsanto patents cover genetically modified glyphosate-resistant soybeans. A farmer purchased soybeans from a commodity market and argues that the “first sale doctrine” exhausts the patent rights as to those soybeans and their progeny. If successful, the farmer can save and replant the soybeans without paying licensing fees. Monsanto argues that exhaustion does not apply to new soybeans grown through replanting; even rights in the parent seeds are exhausted. In addition, Monsanto argues that the purchased soybeans are bound by a use-restriction servitude that bars farmers from planting seeds purchased from the commodity market.
Recommended Citation
Dennis D. Crouch,
Seed Patents, Patent Exhaustion, and Third Parties - Bowman v. Monsanto Co., 40 Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases 225
(2013).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/facpubs/774