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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

Demystifying European Antitrust Law

In the first of a series of WSGR Alerts, the firm's Brussels attorneys outline the European Commission's proposed changes to the antitrust rules on licensing patents, software, know-how, and other intellectual property....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

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

Patent Watch: Motiva, LLC. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n

The "Commission is fundamentally a trade forum, not an intellectual property forum" [and] litigation expenses directed at preventing, instead of encouraging manufacture of, articles incorporating patented technology does not...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: Crisis Averted on IP Protection for Self-Replicating Technologies

Life science companies in general (and seed companies in particular) are breathing a sigh of relief following the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday in Bowman v. Monsanto. As Bowman wended its way through district...more

Bowman v. Monsanto Co. (2013)

Today, in Bowman v. Monsanto Co., the Supreme Court determined that the doctrine of patent exhaustion did not permit a farmer who buys patented seeds to repro­duce them through planting and harvesting without the patent...more

Client-Licensed Microsoft Software in Hosted Environments

Christopher Barnett, Scott & Scott, LLP attorney, suggests service providers weigh their Microsoft options before committing either to a dedicated deployment or an Authorized Mobility Partner licensing model....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

A First for FRAND: Federal Court in Microsoft v. Motorola Sets FRAND Royalty Rates for Standard Essential Patents

Microsoft v. Motorola developed a framework for courts to assess fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms for standard-essential patents. Its roadmap and analysis will probably influence future FRAND cases in...more

Rubin v. General Hospital Corp. (Fed. Cir. 2013)

On March 28, the Federal Circuit in Rubin v. General Hospital Corp. affirmed judgment by the District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissing the suit brought by Drs. Berish Rubin and Sylvia Anderson against The...more

Supreme Court of Georgia Rejects Independent Claim for "Inevitable Disclosure"

The "inevitable disclosure" doctrine is one of the most discussed, controversial topics in unfair competition law. The commentary among academics and bloggers reminds me of the ongoing debate over the proper scope of the...more

Are End-User Agreements for Tangible Products on the Horizon?

Scott & Scott, LLP attorney, Christopher Barnett, asks whether Google's Glass restrictive Terms of Service could be imitated by other consumer product manufacturers....more

Do Patents Control Self-Replicating Technologies? Supreme Court Hears Argument that Sale of Patented Seed Exhausts Future Patent

Patent infringement arises when one “makes, uses, offers to sell, or sells” a patented invention without authority from the patent holder. However, once the first authorized sale of the patented product has occurred, the...more

Global Connection - May 2013: Counterfeit Electronic Components in the Supply Chain—Avoiding and Coping with U.S. Customs...

On May 21, 2012, the Senate Armed Services Committee issued a report of its inquiry into counterfeit parts in the Department of Defense Supply Chain. The Committee’s report stated that the problem of counterfeit electronic...more

Will Google Break the GPL?

The subject of open source licensing has created a level of uncertainty amongst companies, especially with General Public License (GPL) or GPL derivatives when it comes to intellectual property restrictions on coded data. The...more