> Sask farmer wins hearing from Supreme Court in patent battle
with
> Monsanto
> By TIM COOK
>
> REGINA (CP) - The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to sort out a
> long-running legal battle between a Saskatchewan farmer and
> biotech giant Monsanto over patent rights to
> herbicide-resistant canola.
>
> The court, in a decision released without comment Thursday, agreed to
> hear the case of Percy Schmeiser, who is challenging past rulings that
> held him liable for over $170,000 in damages and previous legal costs.
> Schmeiser was in Rome and not immediately available for
> comment, but his lawyer Terry Zakreski said he is
> delighted with the ruling.
>
> "It's a big thrill and it's great news to her this," Zakreski
said.
"I'm
> sure Percy will have a smile on his face as big as Saskatchewan when
he
> finds out." But much work lies ahead, Zakreski said.
>
> "I compare this to Mount Everest. We've come all this way and we
are
> only at about base camp. All the tough climbing is still ahead."
>
> At issue are U.S.-based Monsanto's patent rights to Roundup Ready
> canola, a genetically modified strain resistant to powerful herbicides
> that would normally kill the plants, widely used to produce cooking
oil.
>
> Monsanto charges farmers a fee of about $30 a hectare to use the
seeds.
> About 20,000 farmers across the country planted the seeds in 2000.
Those
> crops covered between about 18 million and 20 million hectares and
> accounted for about 40 per cent of Canadian canola production.
>
> Schmeiser, 72, who has farmed for about 50 years near Bruno, Sask.,
was
> sued by Monsanto for growing its seeds without permission.
>
> The Federal Court trial division agreed with the company that its
patent
> rights had been violated and ordered Schmeiser to pay $19,000 in
damages
> and $153,000 in court costs. The judgment was upheld by the Federal
> Court of Appeal, which continued to hold Schmeiser liable but
rejected
> a counter-claim by Monsanto to raise the damage figure.
>
> Schmeiser denies that he knowingly violated the patent. He contends
the
> herbicide-resistant crop grown in his fields may have resulted from
> seeds blowing off a passing truck or from pollination from nearby
fields
> where his neighbours were growing Roundup Ready canola.
>
> The case has become a cause celebre in Western Canada and has
attracted
> attention in other countries, making Schmeiser something of a folk
hero
> among farm and consumer activists who worry about the spread of
> genetically modified crops and the economic clout of the companies
that
> hold patents for them.
>
> No date has been set for the Supreme Court hearing.
>
> The top court is very selective when it comes to which cases it hears
> and the fact that Schmeiser was granted leave come as a great relief,
> Zakreski said.
>
> "With their leave applications it's a case where many are called
and
few
> are chosen," he said.
>
> "I think we were very hopeful about getting leave because we thought
our
> case was of national importance, but statistically the odds are
against
> us, so having gotten leave, it's a great relief."
>