SCOTUS’ Monsato Decision Affects Agency E&O

In May 2013, SCOTUS came down with a unanimous decision confirming the right of Monsanto to patent genetically altered weed-resistant seeds. The Court ruled that a farmer in Indiana had violated Monsanto’s intellectual property rights by planting “saved seeds.” For you city slickers, “saved seeds” is an age-old practice employed by farmers in which the seed from a current year’s crop is saved to be planted the following growing season. Monsanto objected to this practice on the premise that its intellectual property rights were being violated and the Supreme Court agreed.