Bowman v. Monsanto

Vernon Hugh Bowman v. Monsanto Company | LII / Legal Information Institute: The results of this decision will play a major role in the way that companies sell their patented information to consumers and how much control patentees retain after the sale of a self-replicating item. Bowman argues that under the exhaustion doctrine, once the seed is sold, the purchaser has total control over the seed to do what the purchaser wishes and the patentee retains no claim in the seed. Monsanto contends that the exhaustion doctrine only applies to the specific item that is sold and that progeny seeds are the equivalent of illegal copies. If the Court finds for Bowman and the exhaustion doctrine applies per se, prices on many patented items may increase as companies try to recover large amounts of their costs through a single sale, and the spending on research and development by many companies may decrease. However, if Monsanto is successful in narrowing the doctrine of exhaustion, it may increase monopolies and make it harder for consumer to bring antitrust suits