Organic Excellence

NEW YORK – July 24, 2007 — The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has rejected four key Monsanto patents related to genetically modified crops that PUBPAT challenged last year because the agricultural giant is using them to harass, intimidate, sue - and in some cases literally bankrupt - American farmers.  In its Office Actions rejecting each of the patents, the USPTO held that evidence submitted by PUBPAT, in addition to other prior art located by the Patent Office’s Examiners, showed that Monsanto was not entitled to any of the patents.

Monsanto has filed dozens of patent infringement lawsuits asserting the four challenged patents against American farmers, many of whom are unable to hire adequate representation to defend themselves in court.  The crime these farmers are accused of is nothing more than saving seed from one year’s crop to replant the following year, something farmers have done since the beginning of time. 

One study of the matter found that, “Monsanto has used heavy-handed investigations and ruthless prosecutions that have fundamentally changed the way many American farmers farm. The result has been nothing less than an assault on the foundations of farming practices and traditions that have endured for centuries in this country and millennia around the world, including one of the oldest, the right to save and replant crop seed.”  The lawsuits filed by Monsanto against American farmers include Monsanto Company v. Mitchell Scruggs, et al, 459 F.3d 1328 (Fed. Cir. 2006), Monsanto Company v. Kem Ralph individually, et al, 382 F.3d 1374 (Fed. Cir. 2004) and Monsanto Company v. Homan McFarling, 363 F.3d 1336 (Fed. Cir. 2004).

Although Monsanto has the opportunity to respond to the Patent Office’s rejections of the patents (U.S. Patents Nos. 5,164,316, 5,196,525, 5,322,938 and 5,352,605), third party requests for re-examination, like the ones filed by PUBPAT against the four Monsanto patents, are successful in having the reviewed patents either changed or completely revoked more than two-thirds of the time.

“We are extremely pleased that the Patent Office has agreed with us that Monsanto does not deserve these patents that it has used to unfairly bully American farmers,” said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT’s Executive Director.  “Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end of the harm being caused to the public by Monsanto’s aggressive assertion of these patents, which threatens family farms and a diverse American food supply.”

More information, including copies of the Office Actions issued by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office rejecting the four Monsanto patents, can be found at PUBPAT > Monsanto Anti-Farmers Patents.

Living in 21st century society, it is easy to overlook the obvious in our quest to keep healthy- the food we eat. There is an increasing body of evidence that shows eating the right combinations of foods can prevent certain diseases and lessen the symptoms of many other diseases. For example, did you know that eating cranberries and blueberries can prevent bladder infections…or that strawberries and blueberries have been shown to have anti-cancer properties in laboratory settings? It’s true. Black berries have powerful anti-oxidants that slow the aging process and make us look younger. Also, like all berries, blackberries are an important source of vitamins and minerals.

In looking for a healthy cooking oil, Coconut Oil should be considered. In the April 2004 Cooking in the Lite Newsletter, by Brit Elders “Coconut Oil has been found to boost the metabolism, act as a powerful antioxidant, augment the immune system, and working from the inside of the body and/or by applying directly to the skin, it appears that this oil helps make skin feel smoother.” She further states, “Health benefits that are currently being attributed to coconut oil are not what the experts expected to find. They are now linking coconut oil to lowered bad or LDL cholesterol, stimulation of thyroid activity, naturally produced anti-aging steroids, pregnenolone, progesterone and DHEA. It is almost 50% lauric acid, a beneficial fatty acid found in human breast mild and capric acid. Lauric and capric acid convert to monolaurin in the human body. Monolaurin is used by the human body to destroy lipid coated viruses, as well as several forms of bacteria and protozoa.”