"Can a farmer commit patent infringement just by planting soybeans he bought on the open market? This week, the Supreme Court asked the Obama administration to weigh in on the question. The Court is pondering an appeals court decision saying that such planting can, in fact, infringe patents."
via arstechnica.com
"Self-Replicating Inventions : Supreme Court asks for Government’s Views in Monsanto Patent Exhaustion Case
By Dennis Crouch
Bowman v. Monsanto (Supreme Court Docket No. 11-796, 2012)
In 2011, the Federal Circuit again affirmed that Monsanto's genetically modified seeds patents can be used to stop farmers from saving and replanting the GM seeds. The farmer, Vernon Bowman, then petitioned the Supreme Court asking for a writ of certiorari ."



