The agricultural giant Monsanto has sued hundreds of small farmers in the US in recent years in attempts to protect its patent rights on genetically engineered seeds that it produces and sells.
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The Seed Giants vs US Farmers report tracked numerous law suits that Monsanto had brought against farmers and found some 142 patent infringement suits against 410 farmers and 56 small businesses in more than 27 states. In total the firm had won more than $23m from its targets in 2013.
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How did that happen?
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First came the plant patent act of 1930. The first federal law aimed at protecting agricultural intellectual property. At that time it was believed that plants could not be patented, that they came from nature and couldn’t be improved upon by man.
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Utility patents however had been granted since the US was founded. The plant Variety Protection Act was passed in 1970 aimed at sexually reproducing plants and granting patent-like protection to them.
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To fully demonstrate the necessity of a utility patent the breeder must demonstrate the variety is new, distinct, uniform and stable. Like herbicide resistant seed.
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Once patent protection is granted the innovator has the certificate to certain rights. The right to exclude others from using, making or selling the invention without permission or purchase of the protected variety.
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What impact has this had?
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For years now more than 90 percent of corn, soybean, cotton, canola and sugar beet acreage in the US is GMO. Seed controlled mainly by biotech companies like Bayer/Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta.
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Today we see the melting of what was perceived as separate industries into one industry. The bio economy, it encompasses food, health, security and technology.
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Gene editing injections mandated and tracked by digital surveillance is here. Patented innovations are protected. What does it mean to be reliant on corporations that own our gene code edits?
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Genetic editing and modification has given corporations control of our food and now it aims to take control of our health and how we live our lives with “biosecurity”.
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Recently, “Moderna sues Pfizer for patent infringement”. Question, Who owns human edited genes?
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