JURIST - Paper Chase: Monsanto wins patent suit against Canadian farmer who planted GM seeds without permission

In what is believed to be the first ruling of its kind anywhere in the world, the Supreme Court of Canada Friday upheld a claim by the Monsanto agricultural biotech company that a farmer had committed a gene patent violation by growing Monsanto-developed Ready Roundup canola seeds on his land without permission. The Court said that Percy Schmeiser of Bruno, Saskatchewan, had "used" the patented gene by growing the crop, and that Monsanto has the right to control the usage of its patent. The decision appears to mean that any plant that has been genetically-modified effectively becomes the property of its creator. The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has background. The Court's ruling is here. Farmer Schmeiser has his own site dedicated to the case here. CBC News has more.

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