US plant breeders win patent fight
11 December 2001
US plant breeders win patent fight
By FWi staff
PLANTS developed through human intervention can get broad patent protection under federal law, the US Supreme Court has decided.
The Financial Times reports that this ruling is a big victory for Pioneer Hi-Bred, the worlds largest producer of seed corn.
Newly-developed plant breeds, including those reproduced from seeds, fall under the laws jurisdiction.
For the past 20 years plant breeders have invested on the basis that seed-grown plants that have been altered by man are protected by patent law.
Farmers say that patents deprive them of the centuries-old right to save and replant seeds.
- Farming key to WTO agenda row, FWi, 22 November 1999
- Researchers call for ban on terminator gene, FWi, 04 November 1998
- Biotech patent directive amended, FWi, 11 May 1998
- Financial Times, 11 December 2001, page 10
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