Patent Exhaustion Does Not Permit Farmer’s Practice.

Plaintiff company invented and patented genetically altered soybean seeds. It sells the seeds to farmers pursuant to a licensing agreement. A farmer purchased the seeds for his first crop, following the terms of the licensing agreement. But for the next crop, the farmer planted ordinary soybeans and used plaintiff’s alteration methods to achieve the same genetically altered result. Plaintiff brought an action for patent infringement, and the farmer raised the defense of patent exhaustion, a doctrine which limits a patentee’s right to control what others can do with an article embodying or containing an invention.  The United States Supreme Court held patent exhaustion does not permit a farmer to reproduce patented seeds through planting and harvesting without the patent holder’s permission.  Monsanto Co. v. Bowman  (U.S. Sup. Ct.; May 13, 2013) 133 S.Ct. 1761, [185 L.Ed.2d 931].