Monsanto

On Tuesday, attorneys for the largest agrochemical corporation in the world, Monsanto, will present arguments before the Supreme Court asserting the company's rights to the generations of seeds that naturally reproduce from its genetically modified strains. Bowman vs. Monsanto Co. will be decided based on the court's interpretation of a complex web of seed and plant patent law, but the case also reflects something much more basic: Should anyone, or any corporation, control a product of life?

WASHINGTON - Monsanto Co. and other companies that patent seeds may prohibit farmers from growing a second crop from their genetically modified seeds, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously. The closely watched decision was a clear victory for agribusiness giants and their biotechnological innovations, which have increased crop yields. But it was a setback for the many disgruntled farmers who have complained about the high cost of these miracle seeds. By a 9-0 vote, the justices decided the patent for a specialized seed outlives the first planting.

Video streaming by ustream.tv/occupyfreedomla Nine protesters were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of trespassing after blocking access to a Monsanto seed distribution center in Oxnard, group organizers said.  Those arrested were part of a decentralized network of food activists and Occupy protesters, said Adam Eidenger, a spokesman for the Occupy Monsanto group. Their aim is to protest Monsanto's sales of genetically modified seeds, he said. They also sought to bring attention to Proposition 37, a ballot initiative set to come before California voters this fall.

Re “ Seeds of Dissent ,” Opinion, Feb. 19, and “ Justices consider patented seeds case ,” Feb. 20 I understand a company's desire to control the use of products it has created and patented, and the importance such a right plays in its ability to remain profitable. But I still have a major problem with Monsanto's arguments in this case. Monsanto didn't create or design the seeds' ability to reproduce; it created the resultant plant's ability to resist a weedkiller. If Monsanto feels that it owns that ability for all future generations of the seeds, it should be free to charge more for the original seed and see if the market is willing to bear those additional costs, instead of being allowed to prevent farmers from using those second-generation or later seeds.

Re “ Seeds of Dissent ,” Opinion, Feb. 19, and “ Justices consider patented seeds case ,” Feb. 20 I understand a company's desire to control the use of products it has created and patented, and the importance such a right plays in its ability to remain profitable. But I still have a major problem with Monsanto's arguments in this case. Monsanto didn't create or design the seeds' ability to reproduce; it created the resultant plant's ability to resist a weedkiller. If Monsanto feels that it owns that ability for all future generations of the seeds, it should be free to charge more for the original seed and see if the market is willing to bear those additional costs, instead of being allowed to prevent farmers from using those second-generation or later seeds.

Question: Crop prices have risen so much. Why aren't my Monsanto Co. shares doing the same? Answer: The world's biggest seed company has been firmly focused on farmers, who are crucial to its business. Prices of agricultural commodities have risen sharply since last summer because of poor weather and strong global demand. But Monsanto, with an eye on its longer-term market share, has discounted the prices farmers pay for its patented, genetically engineered seeds. The profit potential of Monsanto's seed business, however, will depend heavily on the degree of public acceptance and environmental scrutiny of genetically engineered food as well as commodity prices.

WASHINGTON - In a closely watched patent case, Supreme Court justices appeared ready to dash the hopes of an Indiana farmer who claimed the unfettered right to plant the next generation of Monsanto Co.'s genetically modified soybeans. The justices strongly suggested in oral arguments Tuesday that they would agree with Monsanto that its patent protection covers not just the first planting but also seeds that are generated later from any plantings. "Why in the world" would any company invest millions of dollars in creating a new seed if a farmer could buy one and freely reproduce it, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked.

G. D. Searle & Co., a pharmaceutical company, and Monsanto Co., a chemical company, announced today that they have agreed to merge in a deal valued at $2.7 billion.

The firm won on all but one count in a $28-million lawsuit brought by former workers who alleged that they were poisoned on the job by chemicals. The federal court jury in Charleston, W.Va., ruled that, although the seven former employees suffer from long-term health problems as a result of on-the-job contact with dioxin, the company did not knowingly poison them.

The Supreme Court overturned a lower court's nationwide ban on genetically modified alfalfa seeds Monday, handing a victory to Monsanto Co. in a long-running dispute. Monday's 7-1 decision enables the U.S. Department of Agriculture to complete a study on whether the alfalfa will harm the environment before deciding on whether to approve the seeds for planting, a process that could go into next year. The high court ruled that a federal judge in San Francisco went too far when he issued an order that overturned the Agriculture Department's decision to allow some farmers to plant Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa seeds before the government had completed its full study of the environmental issues.

In an Op-Ed article for The Times on Tuesday, George Kimbrell and Debbie Barker of the Center for Food Safety present a forceful argument against patents on seeds or any other "product of life. " The issue arises because the Supreme Court is considering the case of a farmer sued by Monsanto for infringement because he replanted soybean seeds that the chemical company had patented. At the oral arguments Tuesday, the justices acknowledged that they had never before considered a patent on a live, "self-replicating" invention.

On Tuesday, attorneys for the largest agrochemical corporation in the world, Monsanto, will present arguments before the Supreme Court asserting the company's rights to the generations of seeds that naturally reproduce from its genetically modified strains. Bowman vs. Monsanto Co. will be decided based on the court's interpretation of a complex web of seed and plant patent law, but the case also reflects something much more basic: Should anyone, or any corporation, control a product of life?

WASHINGTON - In a closely watched patent case, Supreme Court justices appeared ready to dash the hopes of an Indiana farmer who claimed the unfettered right to plant the next generation of Monsanto Co.'s genetically modified soybeans. The justices strongly suggested in oral arguments Tuesday that they would agree with Monsanto that its patent protection covers not just the first planting but also seeds that are generated later from any plantings. "Why in the world" would any company invest millions of dollars in creating a new seed if a farmer could buy one and freely reproduce it, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked.

WOODLAND, Calif. - The worst U.S. drought in half a century is withering the nation's corn crop, but it's a fertile opportunity for makers of genetically modified crops. Agricultural biotechnology companies have been pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into developing plants that can withstand the effects of a prolonged dry spell. Monsanto Co., based in St. Louis, has received regulatory approval for DroughtGard, a corn variety that contains the first genetically modified trait for drought resistance.

Video streaming by ustream.tv/occupyfreedomla Nine protesters were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of trespassing after blocking access to a Monsanto seed distribution center in Oxnard, group organizers said.  Those arrested were part of a decentralized network of food activists and Occupy protesters, said Adam Eidenger, a spokesman for the Occupy Monsanto group. Their aim is to protest Monsanto's sales of genetically modified seeds, he said. They also sought to bring attention to Proposition 37, a ballot initiative set to come before California voters this fall.

William S. Knowles, a retired Monsanto Co. organic chemist who shared a Nobel Prize in 2001 for helping to solve a vexing problem in the manufacture of medicines, died Wednesday of complications of ALS at his home in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, Mo. He was 95. Knowles shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in chemistry with two other scientists, K. Barry Sharpless of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla and Ryoji Noyori of Nagoya University...

Plans call for the St. Louis-based chemical company to strengthen some programs while withdrawing from marginal businesses and production facilities, according to Richard J. Mahoney, president and chief executive. However, the result of the restructuring will be the laying off of thousands of employees in the United States and overseas, the firm said, with up to 1,500 of the 8,800 jobs in the St. Louis area being eliminated.

Is there value to be found anywhere in today's perilous stock market? Well, everything's risky, but a lot of the smart money is investing in Monsanto Co., the St. Louis-based chemical company that owns the sugar substitute NutraSweet. The Bessemer Trust, for example, owns almost 1 million shares, says Stanley Nabi, the trust's executive vice president for investment. Bessemer invests old family money, chiefly that of the Phipps family, which made its fortune founding the American steel industry.

After years of taking farmers to court to assert their patent rights, agri-giant Monsanto Co.is being sued by farmers. Lots of farmers. Judge Naomi Buchwald heard oral arguments Jan. 31 in federal district court in Manhattan on OSGATA et al. vs. Monsanto , the latest courtroom action on a suit filed almost a year ago. Responding to what they say is a climate of fear created by Monsanto's long series of patent infringement lawsuits, a group...