India’s Supreme Court refuses to stay Monsanto patent order
India’s Supreme Court has refused to stay an order which held that agricultural company Monsanto’s patent on genetically modified cotton seeds is invalid.
Yesterday, May 7, the Supreme Court reportedly refused to stay the lower court’s decision, meaning that Indian patent number 214436, which covers “Methods for transforming plants to express bacillus thuringiensis deltaendotoxins”, is unenforceable pending the appeal.
In April, the High Court of Delhi backed Indian agribusiness Nuziveedu (the respondent) in its dispute, which included a patent opposition, with Monsanto.
Monsanto had argued that the biotech invention covered by the ‘436 patent contains “the infusion of the Bt gene into the cotton genome”, which eradicates pests afflicting cotton plants, and that components in the invention fall under microbiological processes and microorganisms, making it patentable.
However, the Delhi High Court found that the invention falls within section 3(j) of the Patents Act which prohibits a patent for plants, including seeds and varieties.
The Delhi court also upheld an order which forced Monsanto to continue a licensing agreement that had been terminated.
Monsanto’s appeal will be heard on July 18, 2018.
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