The Supreme Court ruled this week that farmers must pay Monsanto each time they plant the company’s patented genetically modified soybeans. Farmers are contractually required not to save and replant herbicide-resistant Roundup Ready seeds from previous crops. Indiana farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman had bypassed this rule by buying a mix of beans, spraying them with herbicide so that only the Roundup Ready versions survived, and then replanting them. The justices agreed with Monsanto that Bowman’s actions undermined the company’s patent. The ruling could have implications for other self-replicating products, like vaccines, cell lines, and software.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Alexei Navalny and Russia’s history of poisoningsThe Explainer ‘Precise’ and ‘deniable’, the Kremlin’s use of poison to silence critics has become a ’geopolitical signature flourish’
-
Are Hollywood ‘showmances’ losing their shine?In The Spotlight Teasing real-life romance between movie leads is an old Tinseltown publicity trick but modern audiences may have had enough
-
A dreamy long weekend on the Amalfi CoastThe Week Recommends History, pasta, scenic views – this sun-drenched stretch of Italy’s southern coast has it all
