Non-profit Patent Utilization [LWN.net]

Non-profit Patent Utilization

Posted Feb 28, 2009 5:36 UTC (Sat) by dirtyepic (subscriber, #30178)
In reply to: Non-profit Patent Utilization by wmfa
Parent article: The trouble with OpenBTS

i still can't believe the Supreme Court of Canada sided w/ Monsanto. i'm a land surveyor and every year Monsanto hires us to mark out the legal boundaries of suspected "infringer's" land so they can legally take crop samples of canola plants that have grown over into the road allowance. i'm told the landowner then has three options - pay for a licence, burn the crop, or hand it all over to Monsanto. (ie. pay for a licence)

it very well could be that the individuals are breaking the law and knowingly using patented strains, but Monsanto's track record still makes me unenthusiastic about working for them. they're basically the patent troll of the agricultural industry.

anyways, what were we talking about again? ;)

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Non-profit Patent Utilization

Posted Feb 28, 2009 19:49 UTC (Sat) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954) [Link]

I still can't believe the Supreme Court of Canada sided w/ Monsanto.

You mean you can't believe it misapplied the law so badly or that the law is so stupid? I don't claim to know this law, but I have faith that the Supreme Court at least came close to a legally correct decision, even though I feel plenty of moral outrage.

It very well could be that the individuals are breaking the law and knowingly using patented strains, ...

That's the thing: it's not a matter of breaking the law, just of civil liability. As a civil lawyer, I'm frequently vexed by people who confuse being liable with being a criminal. The court isn't saying the farmer is a despicable thief -- just that in the grand scheme of the Canadian system of wealth distribution, money (or canola plants) now in the farmer's hands belongs in Monsanto's.

And it could be one of those cases where the law sacrifices justice in some cases in order to increase justice overall. Patent law in particular, being entirely artificial, is subject to quirks like this.