A Comparative Look at Bowman v. Monsanto in the European Context

摘要

On May 13, 2013, the US Supreme Court upheld the decisions of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and of the District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, holding in favour of Monsanto in the Bowman v. Monsanto dispute (see "US Supreme Court Says No Patent Exhaustion for Monsanto Roundup Seeds" [27 WIPR 22, 6/1/13]). Monsanto invented and patented a technology to make plants genetically resistant to herbicide glyphosate. All the methods and customary tools employed to endow the plant with the new genetic traits were protected by US Patent 5,352,605 and its re-examined form RE 39,247. The patent covers in particular a glyphosate-resistant soybean plant and its seeds marketed under the Roundup Ready (RR) trademark.