Pubdate: Thu, 22 Aug 2013
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2013 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: J. M. Smith

THE PROBLEM WITH PATENTS

As a Colorado Company Sues an Arizona Dispensary Over Strains, Smith 
Wonders Who Owns Nature?

Remember when Monsanto sued that Canadian farmer over canola he 
raised from seeds that blew into his field off a passing Monsanto truck?

The Case of Mr. Schmeiser was documented, among many other places, in 
the movie Food, Inc., which subsequently fed the flames of a 
burgeoning anti-Monsantoism. Partly because of that film, I now think 
of Monsanto the way little Hispanic kids think of the Border Patrol . 
La Migra's gonna GET you!

Well, now a Colorado company is showing distinct symptoms of 
Monsantoism by hovering over at least one Arizona cannabis 
dispensary, threatening legal action over Purple Razz and Purple 
Trainwreck. Indica Intellectual Property LLC of Denver, sent a letter 
to Desert Bloom Re-Leaf Center a couple of weeks ago detailing its 
patent application for the strains and its intent to defend such, 
should the application be approved. Interestingly, Desert Bloom 
doesn't even have the strains in stock anymore, if it ever did.

Indica's letter is rife with mays and mights and coulds, and there is 
a licensing agreement attached at the end. The agreement, which 
Desert Bloom has not signed, asks for non-refundable payments 
totaling $151,000 for the right to sell the patent-pending strains. 
Monsantica then asks for reimbursement for all costs associated with 
the patent application. Wtf? The company generously offers to let 
Desert Bloom split the cost of the application with other licensees, 
as if there will ever be a bunch of dispensaries signing this agreement.

Now the law is clear on patented seeds. Yes, you can patent seeds and 
collect licensing fees from people who use them. They're called 
"inventions" under U.S. patent law. Here is a link to some 
"information" about seed patents 
(http://www.monsanto.com/food-inc/Pages/seeds-patent-history.aspx), 
but I advise considering the source). Monsanto says on this website 
that seed patents encourage growers to develop their own strains. 
That might be a small part of the truth when it comes to major crop seeds.

But cannabis is a boutique market, more like craft beer than 
rapeseed. So please relax, Indica Intellectual Property LLC. Calm 
down, Monsanto. There's no need to rape people into using your 
patented cannabis seeds. No one needs the incentive of patents to 
breed new strains. People who grow cannabis will always pride 
themselves on mixing and matching sativas and indicas to find what they like.

I understand the basics of the law, Monsantica, so don't start with 
your "Everything we do is legal blah blah blah U.S. patent laws blah 
blah we invented this." You didn't invent it; it's called nature. You 
took a seed variety nature spent millions and millions of years 
inventing, then you nudged it a tiny bit with a few months of 
tinkering. You didn't invent it. You changed it.

In the end, my guess is that Indica will strong-arm very few 
dispensary operators. My guess is that the dispensary operators will 
find and offer to me, the Monsanto-hating, cannabis-buying public, 
strains that are unencumbered by corporate bullshit. I don't give a 
flippity flip fuck if Indica is patenting the best, most medically 
effective, ease-my-pain cannabis strains in the entire global 
community. If I find out a dispensary in Arizona has a licensing 
agreement to sell a patented strain from Monsantica or anyone else, I 
will stop shopping there. There are thousands and thousands of 
cannabis hybrids. I don't need your Purple Razz or your Purple 
Trainwreck, and I won't deal with people who sign your agreement.

It's hard to completely avoid Monsanto, I will admit, because I buy 
bread. But I probably can and will avoid Monsanto's little brother, 
Indica Intellectual Property of Denver, by driving right on past any 
dispensary that ever displays a patent number on a cannabis strain.

Fuckers.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom