Comment Re:Remove the yoke of Monsanto! (Score 2) 377
Well, technically the licensing agreement is what they like to rely on first. There are no laws that directly prohibit re-planting seeds which have a patented component nor planting seeds sold as feed. If they don't actually have privity of contract they have some other dodges, but the inconvenient truth for them is that replanting is a traditional use of seeds, the seeds aren't patented, only the specific engineered improvement (Monsanto has no IP in 99.9999% of any seeds genome, in particular the parts that allow it to reproduce), and absent an agreement to the contrary, a purchaser in the ordinary course of commerce can expect to be able to plant any seeds that he buys. Monsanto's patent rights are exhausted with the sale of the original seeds. As usual the case law is mixed, and the actual results in court will depend not on the law but on the pocketbooks of the parties, so Monsanto figures it has things all sewn up.