http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-28/dupont-sends-in-former-cops-to-enforce-seed-patents-commodities.html
DuPont Co. (DD), the world’s second-
biggest seed company, is sending dozens of former police
officers across North America to prevent a practice generations
of farmers once took for granted.
The provider of the best-selling genetically modified
soybean seed is looking for evidence of farmers illegally saving
them from harvests for replanting next season, which is not
allowed under sales contracts. The Wilmington, Delaware-based
company is inspecting Canadian fields and will begin in the U.S.
next year, said Randy Schlatter, a DuPont senior manager.
DuPont is protecting its sales of Roundup Ready soybeans,
so called because they tolerate being sprayed by Monsanto Co. (MON)’s
Roundup herbicide.
For years enforcement was done by Monsanto,
which created Roundup Ready and dominates the $13.3 billion
biotech seed industry, though it’s moving on to a new line of
seeds now that patents are expiring. That leaves DuPont to play
the bad guy, enforcing alternative patents so cheaper “illegal
beans” don’t get planted.
READ MORE: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-28/dupont-sends-in-former-cops-to-enforce-seed-patents-commodities.html
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