Asgrow Seed Co. v. Winterboer

Background

Asgrow Seed Company owned federal protection certificates for two soybean varieties. Dennis and Becky Winterboer, Iowa farmers, planted those varieties on 265 acres and sold most of the harvested seed in “brown-bag” transactions to other farmers. Asgrow sued, the District Court ruled for Asgrow, the Federal Circuit reversed, and the Supreme Court reviewed the dispute over how much saved seed a farmer may legally sell under the Plant Variety Protection Act.

Reasoning

The core question was whether the Winterboers’ planting and harvest were done “as a step in marketing” the protected varieties for growing purposes. The Court gave “marketing” its ordinary meaning — putting product up for sale and preparatory acts like cleaning and bagging — and concluded that a farmer who grows seed for the purpose of selling it is not entitled to the statutory exemption. The Court held that a qualifying farmer may sell for replanting only the seed he saved to replant his own acreage. Because the Court found these sales unlawful, it reversed the Federal Circuit and did not decide whether additional notice rules applied.

Real world impact

The ruling narrows the amount of protected seed farmers can resell for planting. It strengthens plant breeders’ exclusive control over distribution of protected varieties and reduces the scope of large-scale brown-bag seed businesses. The opinion also notes a 1994 statutory amendment that later eliminated this exemption for some future certificates, but that amendment did not affect the certificates at issue here.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Stevens dissented, arguing “marketing” should be read more narrowly than “selling” to preserve ordinary brown-bag sales and to avoid unduly restricting farmers’ freedom to dispose of their crops.