[All] Canadian & US Farmers Sue Monsanto to Protect Themselves from Patents on Genetically Modified Seed

Wed Mar 30 17:32:42 EDT 2011

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Lucy Sharratt - CBAN Coordinator <coordinator at cban.ca>
To: cban-e-news at cban.ca
Sent: Wed, March 30, 2011 10:38:16 AM
Subject: [cban e-News] Farmers Sue Monsanto to Protect Themselves from Patents 
on Genetically Modified Seed

Please see below that this case was filed in the US and includes some Canadian 
farmers as well as CBAN Member group Canadian Organic Growers. The lawsuit is 
pre-emptive action against Monsanto - farmers who are under threat of GM 
contamination are seeking protection from being accused by Monsanto of 
infringing their Monsanto's GM patents. The case challenges the validity of 
Monsanto's patents and asserts they fail to meet meet the requirements of patent 
law in the US. For more information see http://www.cban.ca/monsanto

Press Release

Farmers and Seed Distributors Sue Monsanto to Protect Themselves from Patents on 
Genetically Modified Seed

Parkside, SK- March 30, 2011- Yesterday over 60 family farmers, seed businesses 
and organic agricultural organizations in Canada and the US, including Mumm’s 
Sprouting Seeds Ltd. of Parkside Saskatchewan in Canada, filed a lawsuit against 
Monsanto Company to challenge the chemical giant’s patents on genetically 
modified (GM) seed. The plaintiffs were forced to sue pre-emptively to protect 
themselves from being accused of patent infringement should they ever become 
contaminated by Monsanto’s GM seed.

The case, Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association, et al. v. Monsanto, was 
filed in federal district court in Manhattan and assigned to Judge Naomi 
Buchwald. Plaintiffs in the suit represent a broad array of family farmers, 
small businesses and organizations from within the organic agriculture community 
in Canada and the US who are increasingly threatened by GM seed contamination 
despite using their best efforts to avoid it. The plaintiff organizations have 
over 270,000 members, including thousands of certified organic family farmers.

“This case asks whether Monsanto has the right to sue organic farmers for patent 
infringement if Monsanto's transgenic seed should land on their property,” said 
Dan Ravicher, Executive Director of the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) and 
Lecturer of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York. “It seems 
quite perverse that an organic farmer contaminated by transgenic seed could be 
accused of patent infringement, but Monsanto has made such accusations before 
and is notorious for having sued hundreds of farmers for patent infringement, so 
we had to act to protect the interests of our clients.”

The risk of contamination is high and once GM seeds are released into the 
environment, they cannot be recalled or controlled. Canadian farmers are still 
suffering the consequences of market loss after the 2009 GM contamination of 
flax, and organic canola was virtually erased as a crop for farmers in Canada 
due to GM contamination.

The suit is being filed at a critical crossroads in agricultural history as 
Monsanto’s GM Roundup Ready herbicide tolerant alfalfa has recently been 
approved for planting in the US, though it has yet to be commercially introduced 
in Canada. “Contamination from Monsanto’s GM alfalfa poses a direct threat to 
our alfalfa seed business,” says Lisa Mumm of Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds which grows 
and supplies certified organic seed for sprouting, “Neither conventional nor 
organic alfalfa farmers want this technology, since there is no need to use 
Roundup to grow healthy and viable alfalfa crops. Roundup Ready alfalfa is not 
needed and serves only to increase sales of Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.”

“Patents on living organisms should never have been permitted in the first 
place,” said Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network. 
“Patents on gene sequences are facilitating extreme corporate control over 
seed.”

“Some say genetically modified seed can coexist with organic seed, but history 
tells us that’s not possible, and it’s actually in Monsanto’s financial interest 
to eliminate organic seed so that they can have a total monopoly over our food 
supply,” said Ravicher. Monsanto is now the world’s largest seed and 
biotechnology company.

The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) is a not-for-profit legal services 
organization affiliated with the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. PUBPAT 
protects freedom in the patent system by representing the public interest 
against undeserved patents and unsound patent policy. More information about 
PUBPAT is available from www.pubpat.org.

For more information: Lisa Mumm, Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds Ltd. 306-747-2935 
lisa at sprouting.comwww.sprouting.com; Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator Canadian 
Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) 613 241 2267 ext. 25 
coordinator at cban.cawww.cban.ca  

Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator 
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) 
Collaborative Campaigning for Food Sovereignty and Environmental Justice 
431 Gilmour Street, Second Floor 
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 0R5 
Phone: 613 241 2267 ext. 25
Fax: 613 241 2506 
coordinator at cban.ca 
www.cban.ca

Support the Moratorium on GM Alfalfa! Take action at http://www.cban.ca/alfalfa

Donate today to support the campaign! http://www.cban.ca/donate

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http://www.cban.ca/About/CBAN-e-News

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