Pirate or Prophet? Monsanto Canada Inc. v Schmeiser

• Author: Patricia L. Farnese
• Pages: 425-454

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Pirate or Prophet?

MonsantoCanadaIncvSchmeiser

PatriciaLFarnese

Introduction

TSCCanada’s (SCC) decision in MonsantoCanadaIncvSch-

meiseris likely most remembered for what it did not decide. By beginning

the majority’s decision with an outline of what the court would not address,

McLachlin CJ and Fish J, clearly understood that much of the public’s inter

estinthiscaseconcernedanumberofbroaderissuesSpecicallythecourt

stated:

weemphasizefromtheoutsetthatwearenotconcernedherewiththein

nocentdiscoverybyfarmersofblowbypatentedplantsontheirlandorin

theircultivatedeldsNorareweconcernedwiththescopeoftherespond

entspatentorthewisdomandsocialutilityofthegeneticmodicationof

genesandcellsapracticeauthorizedbyParliamentunderthePatentAct

and its regu lations.

Nonetheless, the story of Monsantov Schme iser is as much the story of

howthiscasedrewglobalaentiontothesebroaderissuesasitisaboutthe

narrow issue of patent infringement. This story is also about two fascinat

ing protagonists, Monsanto and Percy Schmeiser, in what has often been

describedasamodernbalebetweenDavidandGoliath For many, Sch

meiser, like David, remains a folk hero whose ongoing public life continues

todrawaentiontothiscase

ﾈﾆﾊPatriciaLFarnese

Monsanto

MagriculturalbiotechnologycompanyItsnet

sales from its seeds and genomics and agricultural productivity divisions

wereclosetobillionUSD The seeds and genomics division sells prod

ucts with biotechnology traits while the agricultural productivity division

mainly refers to the company’s agricultural chemical business. The com

pany’s sale of glyphosate, branded as Roundup, constitutes the majority of

its chemical business. Monsanto’s commodity crop seeds — such as can

olacoonsoybeansandcornaregloballyavailable Monsanto’s global

reach comes through both the direct marketing of its own branded seeds

and chemicals, and through the licensing of its patented technology and

genetic material to other companies.

Monsanto, however, did not begin as an agriculture company and for

many, what Monsanto was cannot be separated from what Monsanto has

becomeInJohnFQueenyformedacompanyandpurchasedthema

terials and technology to produce saccharine. Queeny chose to use his wife

Olga’s maiden name, Monsanto, as his new company’s name. Derived from

benzoicsulmideandsignicantlysweeterthansucroseQueenyhopedto

provide a local source of saccharine in t he US. His investment was rewarded

when The Coca Cola Co. purchased all of the saccha rine Monsanto produced

inandByMonsantohaddevelopedotherchemicaladditives

for use in food products including vanil linandcaeine

Fueled by its success in the food additive business, Monsanto continued

to expand and diversify its chemical busi ness. Monsanto began to manufac

turestyreneandpolystyreneplasticswhichbytheswerethecentral

focusofitsbusinessInMonsantohadthemisfortuneofbecomingin

volved in what has been described as the “most devastating industrial acci

dent in US history.” A French freighter, the S.S.Grandcamp, was unloading

ammoniumnitratefertilizerwhenitcaughtreintheTexasCityharbour

Monsanto was located dockside. Thus, when the S.SGrandcamp exploded,

itt riggered res at the Monsanto facility resu lting in hundreds of deaths

and thousands of injuries. In addition to the loss of many of its employees,

Monsantospolystyrenefacilitysueredconsiderabledamageandreleased

fueloilbenzeneandstyreneintotheenvironment The Texas City disaster

introduced most of the public to Monsanto.

Monsanto’s involvement with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) during

thesandslikelyunderliessomeofthepublicdistrustofMonsanto