Seed is owned by farmers who sowed, bread, saved and exchanged it for thousands of years. Sadly, the arrival of commercial seed industries changed the whole picture. Theses Multinational Corporation had successfully taken away the ownership of seeds from the hands of the farmers in the form of patents. At present, seeds are largely controlled by industrial giants like Monsanto, Du Pont, Syngenta and Bayer.
A patent is an exclusive right granted to an inventor to make and sell the patented product. Patent prevent farmers from saving or exchanging seed, therefore, undermining the farmers’ rights or seed sovereignty. Patent creates monopolies, which undermine the choice of farmers as well as all citizens as eaters.
A seed is not an invention. That is why patents on seeds are illegitimate. Even in a genetically engineered crop, the original seed come from farmers. Patents on seed are therefore based on biopiracy.
The article 27.3(b) in the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement of WTO states “Parties may exclude from patentability plants and animals other than microorganisms, and essentially biological process for the production of plants or animals other than non-biological and microbiological processes. However, parties shall provide for the protection of plant varieties either by patents or by an effective sui generis system or by any combination thereof. This provision shall be reviewed four years after the entry into force of the Agreements establishing the WTO.”
This article was supposed to be reviewed in 1999. Most countries asked for removal on patents on life, and for recognising Biopiracy as illegal. The review has not been allowed to be completed.
Patents on seed which allow corporations to own seed are illegal at many levels.
First, seed is not an invention. Seed is constantly creating and recreating itself. To treat seed as a corporate invention and grant corporations patents on seed violates ethics or patent law itself.
Secondly, all seed has been evolved by nature and farmers over millennia. The corporation takes farmers varieties, use the trait they found commercially useful, and take a patent or intellectual property right. Patents on seed are always based on Biopiracy.
Thirdly, patents on seed allow corporations to prevent farmers from saving and exchanging seed. Thus patent violates farmers’ right to save, use, reuse, breed and exchange seed as their commons.
Fourthly, patents on seed allow corporations to sue farmers’ after the GMO is owned by corporations.They genetically contaminate farmers’ non GMO crops. This happened to Percy Schmeiser, the Canadian farmer.
Fifthly, the international law that forced patents on seed, the TRIPS agreement, is itself currently illegal because it exists in violation of the mandatory review built into the agreement.
The following interactive infographic shows the major seed industry players who are trying to capture the market with their seed patents.
Source: https://philhoward.net/2017/05/11/seed-industry-structure/
ALAN LEWIS says:
November 3, 2015 at 9:43 pm -
to claim that something that occurs naturally is ownd via a patent is absurd and morally wrong, what next a patent on sunlight,oxygen,carbondioxide,photosynthesis!
JessieLogan says:
November 17, 2015 at 10:54 pm -
How has humanity come to such a low point in life that we actually have to patent something God created, not man. is this really thenewwaytomake money? Ugh, big corporations don’t even know what’s right orwrongnow-a-days do they?
JAMES MATKIN says:
January 14, 2016 at 10:05 pm -
Applying government patents to plant seeds is stifling nature and the power of plant evolution. When a farmer mates one plant with another the results are new gene combinations. Therefore increasing the mix of combinations increases the chance of creating better plants. But patents prevent open sharing and cause less diversity in biology.
“Even some breeders who work for the companies that are doing the patenting still believe in—indeed, long for—the ability to exchange seed.
They discourage sharing, and sharing is the foundation of successful breeding. That’s because his work is essentially just assisting natural evolution: He mates one plant with another, which in turn makes new combinations of genes from which better plants are selected. The more plants there are to mix, the more combinations are made, and the more opportunities there are to create better plants. Even some breeders who work for the companies that are doing the patenting still believe in—indeed, long for—the ability to exchange seed.
“It’s this collective sharing of material that improves the whole crop over time,” Myers told me. “If you’re not exchanging germplasm, you’re cutting your own throat.” http://www.vqronline.org/reporting-articles/2014/05/linux-lettuce
The concerns of farmers facing the Hobson choice offered by big AG business either accept our patent monopoly, or miss out on improvements in seeds; even though the seed improvements will often come from the natural work of the same farmers. Patent law seems very inappropriate for the seeds of food farmers.
“Patents are evil in itself when it comes to genes and living organisms. The seeds we see today are the result of many thousands of years of interaction between man and his environment. By privatising the achievements of our ancestors, man is destroying the commons of being, replacing them with legal fictions, such as property and so-called intellectual property.” Jan Ulrich Hasecke, author. April 20, 2014.
Sadly big AG business use of seed patents and threats of expensive litigation against farmers threatens the healthy and abundant food for life on our planet. It is time for new laws excluding living organisms essential for food from the monopoly of patent protection.
Another option is to support the Open Source Seed Initiative that parallels open source software like linux. This idea is explained By Kelly McCartney
May 12, 2014
“A few weeks ago, the University of Wisconsin-Madison pushed forward on a program designed to counter the malicious movements of Big Ag companies like Monsanto. The Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) brings farmers, researchers, scientists, and food advocates together under an Open Source Seed Pledge to keep seeds available — for free and in perpetuity — for anyone to grow, breed, or share anywhere in the world. While big staple crops like corn and soybeans are largely protected, these days, under Big Ag patents and other proprietary restraints, heirloom varieties of kale, broccoli, celery, carrots, and quinoa were among the chosen few to make the OSSI launch cut.” http://www.shareable.net/blog/university-of-wisconsin-launches-open-source-seed-initiative
Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good - GlitterSquid says:
October 13, 2016 at 9:07 pm -
[…] epiphany was lots and lots of research. From treatises on companion planting to discussions about seed patents, I ultimately fell down a vitamin-dense, pumpkin-laden rabbit hole of sweet-fleshed speckled […]
Clif says:
March 6, 2017 at 10:13 pm -
Whst do these people think they are gaining? They are destroying the planet’s free god given diversity in order to satisfy their ego and greed. Soon there will be nothing left.
They are so stupid but we are just as bad for letting them do it. The majority of people don’t even care or believe it is a problem because they have given up their responsibilty to power hungry psychopaths who control everything. Same people making nuclear weapons or monopolising any of the the worlds resources.
Drugs, pharmaceuticals, weapons, human trafficking, child ritual abuse, oil, gold, property, water, technology, media, food, finance you name it… they control it as if it belongs to them and we are human cattle.
It is very very sad… we must shine the light of truth at every opportunity and speak up and spread the knowledge so we can wake up and say no we will no longer tolerate this.
lah says:
February 16, 2018 at 7:34 am -
It seems that the initial project “green revolution” was not to enhance or to protect the domain of agriculture.Many of the projects in same flavor has conducted to get the ownership of seeds. Objective seems to be to push everyone to purchase seeds from the authority. The criticality of what’s going on should be understood by the professionals and should teach everyone who are poor in knowledge.
The Permaculture Research Institute says:
August 10, 2019 at 6:48 am -
[…] Freedom, 2012. ‘Who Owns the Seed?’ https://seedfreedom.info/who-owns-the-seed/ – retrieved […]