India Finds Seeds Cannot be Patented

Source: thedailycoin.org

Monsanto in an attempt to seek payment of royalties from Naziveedu Seeds Ltd they sought to challenge India's Patents Act of 1970. Naziveedu sells cotton seeds that were developed by Monsanto. The Delhi High Court ruled that plant varieties and seeds cannot be patented. On Monday, India's Supreme Court refused to grant a stay on the High Court's ruling. This ruling being upheld blocks Monsanto from seeking redress against Naziveedu.

A Monsanto spokesman told Reuters that the case will be submitted for an expedited preliminary hearing on July 18. The spokesman stated "We remain confident on the merits of the case. India has been issuing patents on man made biotech products for more than 15 years, as is done widely across the globe".

More than 90% of the cotton crop is a strain of the GMO seed produced by Monsanto. The cotton seeds have been modified with a pest resistant toxin.

Source: asia-pacificresearch.com

Vandana Shiva, an Indian environmentalist called the ruling a victory and opens the door to make Monsanto pay for trapping farmers in debt by extracting illegal royalties on cotton crops.

Some of you are aware that in 2017, a study found that 38.7% of Indian farmers committed suicide due to indebtedness. Monsanto has been accused of filing suits against US farmers for growing their patented seeds when it was found that the seeds were carried by the wind or birds and not planted by the farmer. These suits caused undue stress to the farmers because they incurred legal expenses to prove their case.

There are several news articles on how Monsanto has scammed farmers. They recently merged with Bayer, it is my opinion that Monsanto has such a bad reputation that by merging with Bayer, they can try to minimize the public's outrage.