Landmark Family Farmers Lawsuit Against Monsanto GrowsProminent Allies Join Effort to Reinstate Challenge to Monsanto Patents Eleven prominent law professors and fourteen renowned organic, Biodynamic, food safety and consumer non-profit organizations have filed separate briefs with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit arguing farmers have the right to protect themselves from being accused of patent infringement by agricultural giant Monsanto. The brief by the law professors and the brief by the non-profit organizations were filed in support of the seventy-five family farmers, seed businesses, and agricultural organizations representing over 300,000 individuals and 4,500 farms that last year brought a protective legal action seeking a ruling that Monsanto could never sue them for patent infringement if they became contaminated by Monsantos genetically modified seed. The case was dismissed by the district court in February and that dismissal is now pending review by the Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs recently filed their opening appeal brief with the appeals court. Monsanto continues to claim that Plaintiffs concerns about being accused of patent infringement after being contaminated by Monsantos transgenic seed are unsubstantiated and unjustified, said attorney Dan Ravicher of the not-for-profit legal services organization Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT), which represents the plaintiffs in the suit against Monsanto known as Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association et al. v Monsanto. But now two impeccable groups have joined with plaintiffs in explaining to the Court of Appeals how real and legitimate their concerns really are, especially since Monsanto continues to refuse to simply promise never to sue contaminated farmers for patent infringement. In their amicus brief, the law professors point out that, broad standing to challenge the validity of patents ensures that the courts can effectively play their critical role in screening out invalid patents. They add, In actions challenging the validity of a patent, the alleged injury is not only the risk of an infringement suit, but a present restraint on economic activity due to the presence of a potentially invalid exclusive right. The law professors went on to note, But the validity of issued patents is uncertain until they are tested in court. This uncertainty creates real and present risks for persons wishing to engage in economic activity that might be the subject of an issued patent.When a person is deterred from undertaking valuable activity by the risk that the activity may encroach on anothers exclusive rights, that person has incurred an actual, concrete and particularized injury. We are grateful for the brilliant and powerful amici briefs submitted to the appeals court by these two stellar groups, supporting our family farmers quest for justice, said Maine organic seed farmer Jim Gerritsen, President of lead Plaintiff, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association. An erroneous interpretation of law by a single judge is not going to cause our farmers to abandon our rights to farm the way we choose, to grow good food and good seed for our families and for our customers, free from Monsantos trespass and contamination. Denial of the property rights of American farmers is an attack on the property rights of every American. We will fight until family farmers receive justice. The second group filing a brief in support of the OSGATA plaintiffs, made up of fourteen non-profit agricultural and consumer organizations, includes the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Food and Water Watch, International Organic Inspectors Association, Maine Alternative Agriculture Association, Michigan Land Trustees, Natural Environmental Ecological Management, Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society, Organic Consumers Association, Slow Food USA, Virginia Association for Biological Farming, Virginia Independent Consumers and Farmers Association, and Wisconsin Natural Food Associates. In their amicus brief, the non-profit agricultural and consumer organizations point out, The Plaintiff and Amici organizations, farmers, and seed businesses have suffered significant harm due to the threat of patent infringement suits by Monsanto. . They also noted, Defendants have chosen to patent products that, by their very nature, will inevitably end up on the private property of people who have no desire to use them. You can support this information by voting on Reddit HERE This Press Release will be loaded onto the Wood Prairie Farm website here. Complete background information about OSGATA et al v. Monsanto is available at www.woodprairiefarm.com linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 