Winnipeg, Manitoba
January 12, 2004
On January 20, 2004, The Supreme
Court of Canada will hear the appeal of a Federal Court of
Appeal decision that found Bruno, Saskatchewan farmer Percy
Schmeiser liable for violating Monsanto's patent pertaining to
the Roundup Ready(R) gene in canola (http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/information/index_e.asp)
Monsanto's position as it relates to this specific case has not
changed. At the Supreme Court of Canada the company will argue
that the key findings of the Trial Judge, as upheld by the
unanimous decision of the Federal Court of Appeal, were amply
supported by evidence and should not be disturbed on further
appeal. These key findings include:
- Monsanto has a valid patent for plant genes and cells in
canola plants (Roundup Ready(R) canola), which have been
genetically modified to be tolerant to Roundup(R) herbicide;
- Mr. Schmeiser planted canola seed saved from his 1997 crop
which he knew, or ought to have known, was Roundup tolerant and
that his infringement did not arise from limited or accidental
presence of Roundup Ready canola in his fields; and
- The Trial Court found that the shear quantity and commercial
quality of Roundup Ready Canola found in Mr. Schmeiser's crops
in 1997 could not be reasonably explained by any of the possible
sources suggested by Mr. Schmeiser.
During the original trial, Justice Andrew MacKay of the Federal
Court of Canada pointed to independent tests that showed 1,030
acres of Mr. Schmeiser's canola were 95 percent to 98 percent
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.
"While it is always our preference to settle any patent
infringement cases outside the legal arena, we look forward to
completing this final stage of the legal process," said Monsanto
Canada spokesperson, Trish Jordan. "We remain confident the
Supreme Court of Canada will uphold the previous decisions that
found we have a valid patent on this technology and Mr.
Schmeiser violated that patent by knowingly and deliberately
planting, harvesting, segregating and selling Roundup Ready
canola without paying the required licence fee."
Since the Federal Court of Canada first heard this case in 2000,
the popularity of transgenic canola varieties among farmers in
Western Canada has continued to grow. In the 2003 growing
season, 89 per cent of all canola acres planted were herbicide
tolerant, with Roundup Ready canola accounting for close to half
of the total planted acres. A study undertaken by the Canola
Council of Canada in 2000 found that the total value to the
industry, including both direct revenue to growers and indirect
value to the industry, was up to $464 million
cumulative from 1997 to 2000.
The case of Percy Schmeiser and Schmeiser Enterprises Ltd. vs.
Monsanto Canada Inc. and
Monsanto Company is the
only patent infringement case in Canada involving Monsanto's
patented canola technology to be heard by the Federal Court of
Canada. |