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Monsanto Canada Inc. set for Supreme Court of Canada appearance in patent infringement case
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.

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