Monsanto Co. is getting a lot of attention from federal courts these days, and the news is following the agricultural giant’s courtroom fights.First, Reuters is reporting that despite the US government’s opposition, the United States Supreme Court said on Friday, January 15, 2010 that the High Court will hear Monsanto’s appeal of an earlier ruling that prevented the company from selling genetically modified alfalfa seed until an environmental review is conducted.
The Supreme Court will be reviewing a ruling issued by a U.S. appeals court in California. That court upheld an earlier injunction barring Monsanto from selling alfalfa seeds that are resistant to roundup, which is why they are called Roundup Ready seeds, until “the federal government finished an environmental impact study on how the Roundup Ready seed could affect nearby crops.”
The seed did originally receive approval by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) back in 2005. This led environmental groups and “conventional seed companies, led by Geertson Seed Farms,” to sue the USDA in February 2006. Monsanto intervened on the government’s side in the lawsuit.
Monsanto received support in its appeal to the Supreme Court from agricultural industry trade groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the American Seed Trade Association, and the National Corn Growers Association. The Supreme Court expects to hear arguments in April. Justice Stephen Breyer did not take part in considering the case as his brother is the federal judge in California that ruled on the lower court injunction in the case.
In other legal news, Reuters is also reporting that Monsanto is claiming victory over rival DuPont after a federal court ruled in Monsanto’s favor and found that DuPont violated a licensing agreement “in trying to combine certain genetic seed traits developed by Monsanto with its own [,]” writes Reuters’s Carey Gillam.
For their part, officials with DuPont argue the decision was ‘“narrow’” and will allow DuPont to continue with its anti-trust allegations against Monsanto. Gillam quotes DuPont spokesman Doyle Karr as stating, ‘“We’re going to move ahead because the case isn’t over yet [.]”’
This case started in May, 2009, when Monsanto sued Pioneer Hibred International, DuPont’s agricultural “unit.” Monsanto claims that DuPont was exceeding the scope of their licensing agreement because they were combining Monsanto’s Round Ready “genetic trait with DuPont’s Optimum GAT genetic traits in corn or soybeans.”’ Monsanto believes DuPont was going to use their product’s genetic traits to cover up any problems with DuPont’s product.
Scott Partridge is chief deputy general counsel for Monsanto, and he states in the Gillam story that ‘“The court ruled that the Monsanto-DuPont license agreements ‘are unambiguous and do not grant Pioneer the right to stack’” the two genetic traits from the two different products.
DuPont did counter-sue Monsanto last year. DuPont argued Monsanto was illegally acting to control the agricultural seed market by limiting competition. Monsanto is the largest player in the seed market. Gillam reports that “[a]mong other things, DuPont and others have specifically alleged that Monsanto has been trying to limit availability of its Roundup Ready gene, which comes off patent in 2014, as it pushes it second-generation, patented "Roundup Ready 2 Yield" genetic trait into the marketplace.”
The Justice Department is now involved in the allegations.
To read the Reuters article on the Monsanto alfalfa case click here.
To read the Reuters article on Monsanto and DuPont, click here.
Posted: 01/19/10
