Agriculture Updates

National Research Council Recommends A Unified Approach To Assessing Risks To Endangered Species From Pesticides

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for registering pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). ...more

Patent Exhaustion Rejected: Patented Seed Purchaser Has No Right to Make Copies

The Supreme Court in Bowman v. Monsanto Co. ruled unanimously that a farmer’s replanting of harvested seeds constituted making new infringing articles. While the case is important for agricultural industries, the Supreme...more

U.S. Supreme Court Sides with Monsanto in Seed Patent Case

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday in favor of Monsanto in Bowman v. Monsanto, a case involving Monsanto’s recombinant, Roundup Ready® seeds. The opinion rejected the arguments from petitioner, Indiana farmer...more

Supreme Court Rules in Patent Exhaustion Case: Farmer’s Use of Second Generation Seed Constitutes Infringement

On May 13, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that patent exhaustion does not bar an infringement claim in a case involving a farmer who reproduced patented seeds by planting and harvesting second generation seeds...more

Supreme Court Finds for Monsanto in Seed Harvesting Case

In Bowman v. Monsanto Co., the Supreme Court held that the doctrine of patent exhaustion does not give a farmer who has bought patented seeds the right to “reproduce” them through planting and harvesting without the patent...more

Don’t Blame the Bean: The Monsanto Patent Decision

In the case of Bowman v. Monsanto Company (May 13, 2013), the US Supreme Court has weighed into this thorny field, and on Monday it delivered a unanimous judgment upholding the rights in Monsanto’s patented soybeans. (See our...more

U.S. Supreme Court Qualifies Patent Exhaustion

On May 13, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Bowman v. Monsanto, decided whether a soybean farmer infringed Monsanto’s patent by replanting patented soybeans harvested from previous crops. The Court unanimously...more

United States Supreme Court Victory for St. Louis-Based Monsanto

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, has held in favor of Monsanto on a patent infringement suit arising from the St. Louis-based company's Roundup Ready soybean seeds. Monsanto invented and patented a genetic...more

Publications Patent Exhaustion Does Not Apply to the Reproduction of Patented Seeds

On May 13, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Bowman v. Monsanto Co., 569 U.S. ___ (2013), which concerned whether and how patent exhaustion applies to self-replicating patented articles. Monsanto...more

Bowman v. Monsanto: Self-Replicating Biotech and Software Left at the Alter?

Today, in a case having the potential to upset the agricultural biotech industry, Justice Elena Kagan delivered the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision rejecting farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman’s patent exhaustion defense....more

Legal Alert: Monsanto Ruling Protects Innovators of Self-Replicating Biotechnology

On May 13, 2013, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held in Monsan to v. Bowman that the doctrine of patent exhaustion does not permit a farmer to reproduce patented seeds for planting and harvesting without the patent holder's...more

If Patented Technology Can Copy Itself, When Do Patent Rights Cease?

Patent rights in a patented self-replicating technology, such as seeds, continue until the patent term is ended and not before. On May 13, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bowman v. Monsanto that the patent rights in seeds are...more

Patent Exhaustion Doctrine Does Not Protect Farmers Who Replant Patented Seeds

In a brief, unanimous opinion written by Justice Kagan, the Supreme Court yesterday agreed with Monsanto that the patent exhaustion doctrine does not enable farmers to replant and reproduce patented seeds without the...more

Patent Watch: Bowman v. Monsanto Co.

On May 13, 2013, in Bowman v. Monsanto Co., the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Federal Circuit's affirmance of the district court's judgment that Bowman infringed U.S. Patents No. 5,352,605 and No. RE39,247, which related to...more

Bowman v. Monsanto

Supreme Court Ruling on Patent Rights of Self-Replicating Technology

Full text copy of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bowman v. Monsanto Co. et al that Monsanto’s patent rights extend to future generations of its patented seeds. From Joe Barnes at the Washington Post: “Farmers must pay...more

North American Grain: key differences between standard forms (2)

This client alert is the second of a two-part series relating to the use of the standard form contract published by the North American Grain Export Association (NAEGA)....more

Introduction of A New Agricultural Guestworker Bill

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) introduced on April 26, 2013 the Agricultural Guestworker “AG” Act (H.R. 1773) a bill to provide American farmers with a workable temporary agricultural guestworker...more

Energy And Environment Update -- April 29, 2013

In This Issue: Energy & Climate Debate; Congress; Administration; Department of Energy; Environmental Protection Agency; Department of Interior; Department of Treasury; Department of Agriculture; State Department;...more

H-2B Adjudication Resumed

As previously reported, on March 22, 2013, USCIS temporarily suspended adjudication of most H-2B petitions while the government considered appropriate action in response to the Court Order in Comite de Apoyo a los...more

PETA Drones And The Star Wars Age Of Animal Rights Activism

There have been media reports recently that PETA plans to deploy aerial drones to monitor hunters and big farms for activity the organization considers questionable. The drones will be operated via remote control and armed...more

Comment Period Extended For Proposed FSMA Rules

Yesterday, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development hosted officials from the Food & Drug Administration at a "Listening Session" on the newly proposed rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA),...more

Capital Thinking Update - April 15, 2013

In This Issue: - General Legislative - Agriculture & Food - Budget, Appropriations and Sequestration - Cybersecurity - Defense - Education - Energy - Environment - Financial Services -...more

Energy And Environment Update -- April 22, 2013

In This Issue: Energy & Climate Debate; Congress; Administration; Department of Energy; Environmental Protection Agency; Department of Interior; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; State...more

North American Grain: key differences between standard forms

The North American grain market has experienced considerable difficulties in recent years. Severe droughts caused by record heats in 2011-2012 resulted in low yields and a deterioration in the quality of key crops such as...more

Defining “Natural”: The National Organic Program Offers Guidance That May Impact Organic and Nonorganic Food Producers Alike

The USDA’s National Organic Program (“NOP”) recently issued draft guidance that organic and nonorganic food manufacturers alike should be aware of. In addressing what is required to certify a product as “organic,” the NOP has...more