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Legal News

U.S. Patent Office Seeks Public Comments on Experimental Use Exception to Patent Infringement

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking the public’s views on a possible change in U.S. patent law to codify an experimental use exception to infringement. Agriculture is among the key interest groups that the USPTO is hoping to gain comments from as part of its joint efforts with the USDA to promote fair competition and innovation in seeds and agricultural inputs. There currently exists a narrow “experimental use” exception to patent infringement which was created by courts over 100 years ago. Simply stated, the experimental use exception permits the making and use of a patented invention “for amusement, to satisfy idle curiosity, or for strictly philosophical inquiry”

joelcape July 29, 2024

Agriculture

Agricultural Autonomy is Coming – Quickly

This week we saw more than a glimpse of the automated future of farming at the joint summer meeting of the Alabama and Georgia Seed Associations. Associate Director Madison Dixon introduced the Agricultural Autonomy Institute, established in June 2023 by Mississippi State University. This newly created university-level institute focuses specifically on “agricultural autonomy” which Mr. Dixon defined as the “automation of traditional agricultural practices through the adoption of multi-domain systems (e.g., drones, driverless tractors, machine vision, selective seeding/spraying technologies, etc.).” In other words, the production systems of farms of the not-too-distant future will be fully automated – operated entirely on computers linked to wireless-enabled equipment. Indeed, John Deere is aggressively pursuing a fully autonomous production cycle for corn and

joelcape July 22, 2024

Legal News

Supreme Court Limits Federal Agencies’ Power to Interpret Laws

On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Chevron doctrine, which essentially required courts to defer to an Administrative Agency’s interpretation of a federal law that it administered. Under that doctrine, if Congress has not directly addressed the question at the center of a dispute, a court was required to uphold the agency’s interpretation of the statute as long as it was reasonable. Although the original case that created the Chevron doctrine was not initially viewed as a landmark decision, it grew into a major tool in administrative law in the 40 years that followed, giving agencies a wide berth in interpreting the law. As a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling, courts

joelcape July 15, 2024

Legal News

Limitations of Genetic Editing, a Judicial Use of A.I

American Chestnut Tree Tests the Limits of Genetic Editing For roughly a decade, researchers have been working to restore the once-prolific American Chestnut tree which has been functionally extinct since the early 20th century – wiped out by chestnut blight introduced by the importation of Asian chestnut trees. After years of traditional breeding efforts, researchers at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) began genetically engineering American Chestnut trees, eventually developing a variety known as Darling 58 containing an inserted wheat gene to give the trees blight resistance. However, recent data from field testing have indicated that the Darling 58 isn’t performing as hoped,

joelcape June 28, 2024

Agriculture

Corn Seed War Continues, and Other Legal News

The Corn Seed War Creating an I.P. Conflict A lawsuit between Corteva and Inari Agriculture slowly winding its way through a Delaware federal court is raising unique and compelling issues regarding the intersection of patent law and Plant Variety Protection (PVP). Since we initially reported on the case last October, the parties have filed briefs on Inari’s motion to dismiss the case, bringing the issues into sharper focus. A fundamental requirement of patent law, a patent must include a full written description of the invention that will allow someone skilled in the art to make and use the invention. In exchange for disclosing the invention and underlying technology to the public, the

joelcape June 28, 2024

Agriculture

Dueling Dicamba Labels, World’s Most Expensive Cow & More

Yet Another (and Different) Dicamba Label BASF recently submitted a new proposed label for its dicamba herbicide, Engenia, to register the herbicide since the registration was struck down by a federal court earlier this year. While the new Engenia label is much like Bayer’s new dicamba labels submission to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there is at least one notable difference: The Engenia label allows post-emergence application in DT soybeans, while Bayer’s KHNP0090 label (formerly Xtendimax) does not provide for post-emergence applications in DT beans. Thus, the proposed Dicamba Labels would allow Engenia to be applied over-the-top in DT soybeans until the V2 growth stage or a cutoff date of

joelcape June 10, 2024