The U.S. Supreme Court has for the second time in about as many months addressed an important issue of intellectual property. This is unsurprising, given that advances in technology have transformed such goods into the dominant commodity of tomorrow (if not today).
In Bowman v. Monsanto, the court analyzed whether a farmer could plant Monsanto-brand soybean seeds that were mixed in with others he bought from a third party, grow the soybeans and then replant seeds from those newly grown plants to perpetuate his supply. Monsanto objected to the last step for its patented seeds and sued Bowman.
