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Supreme Court Affirms Federal Circuit in Bowman v. Monsanto
Practical Law Legal Update 1-528-8185 (Approx. 2 pages)
Supreme Court Affirms Federal Circuit in Bowman v. Monsanto
by PLC Intellectual Property & Technology
| Published on 13 May 2013 • USA (National/Federal) |
On May 13, 2013, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in Bowman v. Monsanto Co. The court unanimously held that the patent exhaustion doctrine does not allow a farmer to reproduce patented seeds through planting and harvesting without the patent holder's permission.
On May 13, 2013, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Bowman v. Monsanto Co. The court unanimously held that the patent exhaustion doctrine does not allow farmer Vernon Bowman to reproduce Monsanto's patented seeds through planting and harvesting without Monsanto's permission. It rejected Bowman's arguments that:
- Exhaustion should apply because seeds are meant to be planted.
- Because soybeans self-replicate it was the planted soybean, not Bowman, that reproduced the patented seed.
The opinion written by Justice Kagan expressly limits the holding to the facts in Bowman, noting that in another case, the article's self-replication might be outside of the purchaser's control or a necessary but incidental step in using the item for another purpose.
For more, see Practice Note, In Dispute: Bowman v. Monsanto.
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