US: Food monopoly will result if Supreme Court sides with soybean co, warns expert
As a controversial patent case in the Supreme Court rages on between Monsanto and a farmer of the company’s patented soybean, one antitrust advocate has warned of an inevitable “long-term food monopoly” if Monsanto were to win the case. Bert Foer of the American Antitrust Institute joined PBS’s Newshour program to discuss the case and to argue that if the Supreme Court sides with Monsanto, it is the equivalent of “putting all the cards with the patentee and very few with the consumers” if the cases solely concerns patent infringement. Monsanto holds patent rights to its soybean seeds and therefore requires buyers of the product to buy new seeds every year rather than replanting seeds resulting from a previous crop. A 75-year-old soybean farmer was sued by Monsanto after he replanted seeds instead of buying directly from Monsanto. According to recent reports, the Court seemed “skeptical” of the farmer’s argument that replanting is not the same as duplicating the seeds.
Full Content: The Raw Story
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
ConocoPhillips Acquires Marathon Oil for $22.5 Billion in Major Energy Sector Consolidation
May 29, 2024 by
CPI
Judge Denies Amazon’s Bid to Dismiss FTC Lawsuit Over Prime Membership Practices
May 29, 2024 by
CPI
Germany and France Advocate for Major EU Competition Reform
May 29, 2024 by
CPI
Equifax Accused of Monopolizing Employment Verification Market in New Suit
May 29, 2024 by
CPI
Car Battery Makers to Challenge EU Cartel Charges in Brussels
May 29, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Merger Guidelines Retrospective
May 21, 2024 by
CPI
Mergers of Complements
May 21, 2024 by
CPI
Personality Traits, Private Equity, and Merger Analysis
May 21, 2024 by
CPI
The 2023 Merger Guidelines: Lessons in the Importance of Incipiency, Modern Economics, and Monopsony
May 21, 2024 by
CPI
The 2023 Merger Guidelines: Sharpening Merger Analysis
May 21, 2024 by
CPI