WASHINGTON, Maine — A lawsuit brought by a Maine-based agriculture group against global giant Monsanto will receive its day in a federal appeals court after being dismissed by another judge earlier this year.
Oral arguments in the case brought by the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association, which is based in Washington, Maine, against St. Louis-based Monsanto will be heard Jan. 10, 2013, at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., according to court documents.
The organic seed growers association, along with 82 plaintiffs, in March 2011 sued Monsanto in federal district court in New York. The suit challenges the validity of several patents the company holds for genetically modified crops.
The farmers are also seeking protection from lawsuits in case Monsanto’s genetically modified seed inadvertently contaminates their crops through natural causes such as seed drift and cross pollination.
However, federal judge Naomi Buchwald in February dismissed the suit before it went to trial, saying the plaintiffs’ claims of being in fear of patent infringement lawsuits from Monsanto were unsubstantiated and that “these circumstances do not amount to a substantial controversy and that there has been no injury traceable to defendants.”
Jim Gerritsen, a seed potato farmer in Bridgewater and president of the organic seed growers association, told the Bangor Daily News the judge made “numerous legal and factual errors” that led to her decision to dismiss the case.
The newly scheduled oral arguments will give the plaintiffs, who are represented pro bono by the nonprofit Public Patent Foundation, an opportunity to explain to three appellate court judges how “reversible errors were committed” and why the case should be allowed to continue, Gerritsen said.
The appellate judges also will consider two amicus briefs — one by 11 law professors and the other by 14 nonprofit consumer and food safety nonprofits — that were filed in support of the farmers’ position.
The plaintiffs need two of the three judges to vote in favor of sending the case back to district court, Gerritsen said. “We hope we are given a fair hearing by honorable judges that will take [Judge Buchwald’s] ruling, critique it and put it on a level field,” he said.
Gerritsen said the case is extremely important because of the implications it could have on a farmer’s ability to farm how they please without fear of being targeted by a company such as Monsanto, which Gerritsen points out has a 75-person in-house legal team that independent farmers can’t compete against. Gerritsen said Monsanto has sued farmers 144 times, “and in each and every one they make the farmer out to be the villain.”
“The fact is we are all at jeopardy, our livelihoods are at stake,” Gerritsen said, adding that Monsanto has a record of intimidating and suing farms where their genetically modified crops have shown up. “If Monsanto can gain ownership of our crops when they contaminate them, how can we possibly continue farming?”
For its part, Monsanto claims it is not its policy “to exercise [their] patent rights where trace amounts of [their] seed or traits are present in [a] farmer’s fields as a result of inadvertent means,” according to court documents.
The 83 plaintiffs are made up of independent farms, seed companies and agricultural associations around the country. Plaintiffs from Maine include the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association in Unity and Fedco Seeds in Waterville. Gerritsen said the plaintiffs collectively represent approximately 300,000 people and probably 25 percent of all certified organic farms in the United States and Canada.
Now that the appeals court date has been set, Gerritsen is busy reestablishing the Farmer Travel Fund, which will help fund farmers’ ability to take time away from their farms to attend the oral arguments in Washington, D.C.
“Farmers in general don’t get away from their farms, so we will need all this time to just prepare a plan so the farmers can get away and travel to Washington, D.C.,” Gerritsen said.
The farmers will attend the event “to observe this oral argument and bear witness to the functioning of the judicial process, and also show by their presence how important this is to them and their livelihood and their communities, and that it’s not just some academic exercise in refining patent law.”
Good Luck!!! I would like to see Monsanto hit the dust
Usually we don’t have anything upon which to agree… well, on this… 100% agreement…
I agree, rare common ground with the red button. But i liked it.
Now that the appeals court date has been set, Gerritsen is busy
reestablishing the Farmer Travel Fund, which will help fund farmers’
ability to take time away from their farms to attend the oral arguments
in Washington, D.C.
Too funny…..
Also, the drift thing is a farce. If you’re a farmer and use Mosanto’s seed to plant your crop you are not supposed to use those crops in the fall for new seeds the following spring. But these farmers use the seeds and claim drift.
Also, if i am next to an organic farmer farming conventionally, why is it I am the bad guy? i am supposedly threatening his lively hood? Because of drift? He is threatening my lively hood because of his practices. I have to limit the planting of my ground because of “buffers”. bunch of B.S. Organic farming is a marketing ploy. That’s it. more power to those farmers, but do not tel me i am the problem.
Monsanto ADMITS that drift is an issue, but denies they will sue under that circumstance. If so, why not put it in writing? The fact is that they have sued over drift…
http://www.percyschmeiser.com/conflict.htm
Seems like you’re a bit biased by your neighbor situation.
Sorry my friend, you are the problem.
You have absolutely no human right to tresspass on another’s property and that is exactly what you are advocating with your reckless practices that admittedly contaminates neighboring landowner’s properties
I agree with you on this one Jack
If your pigs get loose and destroy my organic corn crop that is your responsibility.
If your transgenic corn gets loose and destroys my organic corn crop that is also your responsibility.
You should be responsible for your hatch of corn borers then, and pay market value for my corn.
There’s so much poison on your crop that nothing could survive on it.
I don’t think it’s wise to let one company control the food source.
If you destroy the ability of seeds to produce food you’ve also taken away the right and responsibility for people to feed themselves.
If monsanto was able to destroy the heirloom seeds it seems reasonable to think a day will come when few people can afford to buy their seeds.
Your moniker says it all, silly, and yes, you are the problem.
Monsanto=genetically modified food=cancer.
Monsanto seed feeds a lot of the world which would otherwise go hungry. No, I’m not supporting their lawsuits but I will say this, the story here is very one sided. If farmers are being sued for having Monsanto seed inadvertently in their fields why don’t they sue back for Monsanto not showing due diligence in keeping their seed contained and out of the farmers fields? Huh, why not? This all sounds made up. Monsanto hasn’t successfully sued anyone for this issue. The organic people are just pushing the case to discredit a corporation which has not done them any harm other than to operate from a different business ideal.
Please get your facts straight. Giving you the benefit of the doubt.. here’s some facts about Monsanto going after contaminated farmers/farms. Its expensive to sue Monsanto.. and risky. If there was justice, the feds would go after them using RICO.
http://www.percyschmeiser.com/conflict.htm
Monsanto has actually done much harm to organic farmers by contaminating their crops with transgenic material, which is not allowed in organic production.
Spot on. Vast majority of the organic claims is voo doo and cult like. It’s done for the marketing of organic products. They’ll trot out all kinds of studies from Cornocoppia, and other groups, which are lobbying organizations for the organic crowd.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Monsanto troll
This is NOT restricted to the “Organic Crowd” . Have you Ever used Fake Sugar? Suggest you bone up on Monsanto via Google. It should open you to a whole new world. Monsanto should not be trusted/
Monsanto has sued and threatened to sue many farmers, while forcing those farmers that are forced, yes, forced, to use their seed to sign legally binding non-disclosures. The farmers that lost or were intimidated into settling effectively turned over the rights to their own seed stock to Monsanto. You are factually wrong in just about everything you have said in your comment.
This documentary covers the travails of one farmer’s plight trying to fight this behemoth:
http://thoughtmaybe.com/david-vs-monsanto/
Monsanto’s suit against Oakhurst Diary, which ended in settlement, is another example of Monsanto’s attempts to force untested GMO technology on the American public. It just backed a successful campaign in CA, spending millions, to prevent genetically modified foods from being labelled with consumer information allowing the buyer to decide for themselves whether to feed their children and families with un-tested GMO products.
Kaiser Permanente, as an insurance provider, is warning their customers to avoid GMO products as un-tested. The reasons are CLEAR… they are un-tested, and most of the advanced world rejects these products or requires labelling. In the US, corporate interests don’t even allow the public at large the ability to KNOW which foods they are eating have been genetically manipulated, introducing foreign proteins and DNA sequences into the US public’s food supply.
It is with significant concern that many people see parallel trends in the data when looking at when GMO products first appeared in the US, and the rise of unusual cancers, obesity, diabetes, allergies, and other diet related diseases and conditions. Correlation doesn’t prove causation, but any thinking person would be remiss to pass over the parallel trends as coincidental, especially when these products have NOT BEEN TESTED under long term, double-blind, controlled experimental conditions. This is, in fact, an enormous uncontrolled human experiment that has introduced foreign dna sequences and proteins into the American diet, and THEN requires the individual TO PROVE HARM rather than the industry being required TO PROVE SAFETY.
This TED talk explains some of the rationale behind a business model that is making a killing for some, while pretty much killing (literally) others….
http://sdemetri.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/when-a-very-profitable-business-model-doesnt-make-sense-big-food/
Your shilling for this industry is the farthest thing from DUE DILIGENCE.
Made up? Genetically CHANGED foods make our bodies react differently to the foods. It changes our metabolism. Jeez seeds blow in the wind and birds carry them every where. Did you go to school?
Anytime I hear the word, Monsanto, I cringe. If you think that this corporation is AOK, then you should read their history of all the places around the world where they have set up shop. It is not a good report and should be taken seriously in the USA. Time to wake up and see the truth about a very greedy corporation. I would NOT trust them.
Go Jim go! Does Monsanto Dream of Electric Sheep? You bet they do!
<<>> So why is Monsanto fighting the lawsuit? Given their policy statement it sounds like they would agree to a permanent injunction against claiming violation of their patent rights.
This is like Berts Hamburger suing McDonalds. Berts had way better hamburgers but in no way could compete on a global level against Big Mac.
I do not think I have ever read a story that painted Monsanto in a positive light. Ever.
Where is Erin Brockevich when you need her? This sounds like her type of case. I wish the farmer’s luck in their pursuit for justice. I think it’s pretty clear that they wouldn’t be going to these lengths if there wasn’t any merit to it. Shame on the judge who dismissed it without a trial.
Montsano has a lot of money
Erin led the way for us all to take notice and take a stand. You do not need to be a farmer to take a stand along side them against Monsanto. If you enjoy eating clean food, then join this FIGHT. Call your representatives and write letters.
The company that brought you DDT, Agent Orange, Aspartame, bovine growth hormone and PCB’s now wants you to trust them, right…
Here is more info on the movement to prevent Monsanto from dictating its for-profit whims on the food supply of the US.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/bytes/ob356.htm
Apart from Jim Gerritsen’s fight to protect his and many, many other farms threatened by Monsanto’s un-contained genetic technology, and Monsanto’s claims of theft and copyright infringement against those farmers that find Monsanto’s technology in their fields without having planted it themselves, the fact is Monsanto is fighting tooth and nail to prevent labeling of transgenic products so the public can know that they are eating potentially dangerous, un-tested, genetically modified foods. Proof of harm falls on the individual, the least able to fight against a behemoth like Monsanto, instead of the industry proving SAFETY and bearing the cost of that proof. This is the tobacco fight all over again.
Trends showing cancer and disease increasing in the American public coincide with the introduction of GMO products in the food supply. Childhood allergies, some severe and life threatening, have increased at the same rate as GMO foods appearing in their diets. Transgenic manipulation introduce foreign, that is, cross-species, or hamster or bacterial, dna sequences and proteins not normally found in human beings. Yet, NO LONG TERM testing is done by Monsanto or food processors to ascertain the safety of this technology over the long term. NO ONE knows if this is safe to do. The individual has the burden of proof if they believe they have been harmed. Correlation doesn’t prove causation, but the parallel trends in these two data sets is good reason to suspect something is going on, and TO DO THE TESTING…
This TED talk is a 20 minute eyeopener. It shows how a business model that makes WONDERFUL sense if you are looking to make a killing, but ought to shock anyone wondering AT WHAT PRICE to the people eating the foods being produced…
http://sdemetri.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/when-a-very-profitable-business-model-doesnt-make-sense-big-food/
I beg everyone who has a garden, or uses fake sugar sweeteners, to please Google Monsanto and read the evil side. It is Alarming. Read the History of this money sucking corp. and take that info. to court. Very Alarming.
Oakhurst beat Monsanto so can the rest of us.
Oakhurst stopped them and so can we.
Just their sweet corn seed would save millions in pesticide expenses, these old hippies who are against them need to take a botany class. Less pesticide = more bees.
But it’s not less pesticides. When Monsanto produces Roundup ready GMO seeds, more pesticides can be used not less.
Jim Gerritsen was never a hippie. He is one of the hardest working farmers, if not people, in this state. He carved his farm from wilderness and rocky pasture. He has brought needed jobs to his community. He is technologically innovative and deeply committed to sustainable agriculture and the land. He knows more about botany and plant biology than most farmers. He is not seeking special treatment. He is helping fight against a company whose goal appears to be to monopolize agriculture worldwide.
So much misinfo in these comments, its hard to know where to begin. Monsanto is not after Gerritson. They would be if he was a thief and planted GSO products without paying the trait fee. I use GSO, it means genitcally superior organisms. Again,they are not going after him and his pals unless they dont pay the fee. This bunch operates by the rule, whats mine is mine, and whats yours is mine as well. They have zero rights to dictate what other farms in Maine plant for crops. He would howl like a dog with a sore paw if the commercial farms around him said he couldnt plant potatoes, because he cant control late blight outbreaks. Same deal.
There are very little GSO crops planted around him, canola and maybe some sweet corn. What right does he have to dictate what I can grow in S Maine? NONE, which is why the first judge told him and his gang to go home. All of you who hate Monsanto, please look at what you are wearing. 95% of cotton is GSO cotton. The ink in your pens is probably soy based, which is GSO soybeans. 80% of all sweetcorn is GSO
GSO products are everywhere and growing thank the scientists who are not modern day Luddites marching to town to destroy others way of life
The Monsanto lawsuit with Oakhurst was about rBST, a naturally occuring hormone found in milk. Absoulutly nothing to do with GSO products. They lost the suit no question. It was and still is a marketing tactic employed by Oakhurst.
GSO is here to stay, live in your cave without fire if you must, leave the rest of us to embrace new technology.
One place to start with the misinformation is with your comment. Monsanto is not after Gerritsen… Monsanto is after any farmer and their crops that show signs of being cross-contaminated with their transgenic products. They will threaten to sue and actually sue farmers whose crops are contaminated through no fault of their own with Monsanto’s transgenic products. Monsanto will also require the farmer to destroy their seed stock from previous plantings, even if that seed stock represents a lifetime of careful cultivation, as was the case with the Canadian farmer mentioned at least twice in comments below. Gerritsen and his companions in the case seek protection from Monsanto’s phalanx of lawyers and the millions of dollars in reserve Monsanto employes to effectively contaminate organic farmer’s non-transgenic crops. It is reported that the Canadian canola crop has been completely contaminated with transgenic technology, that is, entirely contaminated with genetically engineered dna sequences either from Monsanto or other companies that use the same methods to manipulate the plant.
Monsanto’s products are only thought of as “superior” in the minds of Monsanto marketers and folks like you that shill for these UN-TESTED transgenic products. There is nothing conferring inherently superior qualities. In fact, some transgenic products have been showing signs of failure at their original purpose, pest-resistance for example.
rBST is recombinant bovine (cow) somatropin, which takes a bovine gene for a growth hormone from bovine DNA from which to replicate the dna sequence in large quantities. Through recombinant techniques that may utilize a hamster, mouse, or bacterial host in which to grow clones of the dna sequence technicians can greatly multiply the gene of interest and produce the hormone of interest. The final product is an artificial growth hormone used to boost milk production. It results in a transgenic product for human consumption.
There most certainly is fire in my cave, and your misinformation to the contrary is not only uninformed but arrogant and inaccurate. By seeking to patent and sequester the world’s stock of seed for a number of staple food crops FOR PROFIT and MARKET SHARE in a just world might rise to the level of a crime against humanity. When the world’s large multinationals try to financialize, own, and profit from the means of food production, the rights to publicly-owned natural resources like ground water, and can pollute the air with impunity we’ve got a problem.
Organic farmers at minimum have a right to their crops NOT being contaminated with transgenic crops, or from Monsanto threats of litigation.
If YOU dont want to plant GMO products on your land, then dont. As long as I follow the law, I can and will buy and plant GMO products. YOU dont have any say in what I do with my crops. NONE. Of all the fields I plant feed corn into, its dozens, there are zero requests to not plant GMO corn as an abutter. Its not an issue in anyones minds except a vocal minority. If I save seed that has the GMO traits, and not pay the fee, I would expect to be sued by Monsanto if caught. Thats called theft. Go ahead and keep trying to smash the cotton gins in town like the LUddites did, the rest of us are enjoying the success of modern technology, and will pass you by.
If the transgenic traits of your corn drift into an abutter’s crop and show up there, it is not theft if your abutter did not plant their crop with transgenic seed. It is contamination by migration of the genetic trait and costly damage to the abutter especially if they deliberately develop and promote transgenic-free products. Monsanto has no right to sue that person for theft, especially if there is no evidence any theft occurred. That is what the suit is about. Organic farmers have a right to NOT have their crops contaminated with transgenic traits. If you don’t take steps to prevent that contamination, in my world, you would be held responsible for the damage done, just as a polluter would be held responsible for contaminating a clean water source.
The public has a right to know when they are eating transgenic crops, especially as the rates of cancer and other diseases and conditions track very closely with the introduction of transgenic products. Europe has been sensible placing proof of safety on the manufacturer’s balance sheet, instead of requiring the least able in the food chain to provide proof of harm. Nothing Luddite about common sense.
monsanto is a beast,they want to control the worlds food supply,what they do is plant gmo crops near regular ones once they cross pollinate monsanto steps in and says thats copyreight infringement and are awarded peoples farms their life savings,this is a very real threat to our food chain.i myself have stopped eating corn because you dont know if its gmo or not and chances are pretty high its frankenfood which has been shown to cause cancer,just google tumors in lab rats fed monsanto corn.
GADS!
I sure do love a good faery tale.
The reason organic farmers are against GMOs is because it is a real threat to their livelyhoods.
Not because of cross contamination, but because eventually GMOs will be raised without pesticides for much less expense to the consumer.
Consider the GMO sweet corn that needs no insecticide to control ear worm or corn borer.
The organic version is usually worm infested or at the very least trimmed to remove the infestation.
The conventional version is sprayed with Sevin insecticide as little as three days before being picked and sold.
It’s not a tough choice for me as I’m not a big fan of boiled worms.
Potatoes grown with a gene that produces a natural pesticide lowered pesticide use by 75%, but the organic chicken littles made such a fuss that Monsanto abandoned the potato program.
Funny thing about that natural pesticide was that it is a key insecticide allowed by MOFGA and USDA organic standards called Bacillus Thuringiensus
Organic products are simply good marketing with unsubstantiaed claims that sucker people into paying up to three times more for produce of no of better quality.
Monsanto and other leading agribusiness companies are one of the key factors in this earth being able to support nearly seven billion souls.