Summary of a Recent
Judicial Development in
Biotechnology

Saving and Cleaning Seed Violates Patent

Eric Pendergrass
National AgLaw Center Graduate Assistant

In Monsanto Co. v. White, No. CV03-S-2804-NE, 2006 WL 2959458 (N.D.Ala. July 5, 2006), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama held that a seed processor violated the patent and licensing agreement for Roundup Ready soybeans by growing, saving, processing, and selling unlicensed soybeans of the same variety.

Defendant, Michael White, was a farmer and proprietor of a seed cleaning service and seed store that sold and processed soybean seed containing a gene that made it resistant to glyphosphate-based herbicides such as Roundup. Id. at *2. White planted a crop of glyphosphate-resistant soybeans and sold part of the resulting seed to other farmers, in addition to retaining a portion for his own seeding purposes. Id. From the 1999 growing season through the 2001 growing season, the size of the seed crop increased from eight acres to 120 acres. Id. White's seed cleaning service processed the crops derived from the glyphosphate-resistant soybean seeds that were sold to other farmers. Id.

Monsanto holds the patent on the gene that gives the plants the glyphosphate-resistant trait and only releases that technology under a licensing agreement. Id. Each authorized bag of seed contains the statutorily required notification that the product is protected by a U.S. Patent. Id. The court determined that by saving, processing, and offering the seed for sale, White violated the licensing agreement and the protection offered to Monsanto under U.S. Patent No. 5,352,605. Id. As a result of these violations, the court ordered White to pay Monsanto $2,400,000 in damages and permanently enjoined him from purchasing, using, planting, or cleaning any seed subject to Monsanto's patent.

The case was decided on July 5, 2006; this summary was posted July 20, 2007.