The Federal Court of Appeal has unanimously dismissed the 17
grounds of appeal submitted for Mr. Percy Schmeiser, who was
found guilty of violating
Monsanto’s patent pertaining to the Roundup Ready gene in
canola.
On March 29, 2001, Federal Court Justice, Andrew MacKay,
ruled that Mr. Schmeiser "knew or ought to have known" that he
had saved and planted seed that was Roundup tolerant and had
therefore infringed Monsanto’s Roundup Ready patented
technology.
During the original trial, Justice MacKay pointed to
independent tests that showed 1,030 acres of Mr. Schmeiser’s
canola were 95 per cent to 98 per cent tolerant to Roundup
herbicide. At such a high level of tolerance, Justice MacKay
ruled the seed could only be of commercial quality and could not
have arrived in Mr. Schmeiser’s field by accident.
A panel of three Federal Court judges heard Mr. Schmeiser’s
appeal on May 15-16, 2002 in Saskatoon. In its reasons for
judgment released Sept. 4, 2002, the panel of judges rejected
all of Mr. Schmeiser’s arguments and unanimously ruled that
Monsanto’s patent was valid and that Mr. Schmeiser had violated
Monsanto’s patent on Roundup Ready canola. Monsanto’s cross
appeal on the question of quantum of profits was also dismissed.
Monsanto Canada vice-president and general manager, Peter
Turner, said Monsanto is satisfied that Mr. Schmeiser’s appeal
was dismissed and that he remains guilty of violating its
patent.
"More than 30,000 western Canadian farmers have entered into
agreements with us to use the Roundup Ready technology and they
are willing to pay for the technology because of the benefits it
provides," said Turner. "We’re hopeful this will put an end to
continued legal action in this case."
Turner also noted that the introduction of transgenic canola
is a western Canadian success story. Since 1996, western
Canadian farmers have planted over 39 million acres of herbicide
tolerant canola and more than 30,000 farmers have paid to use
Roundup Ready technology on almost 19 million of those acres.