Jon & Karl: Okay. You've helped remove (knocked off) my rose colored glasses, reminding me of both the time limitation of patents & the all too obvious power of capital in the world today. So, maybe a "scratch" in Monsanto's armor? They did recently suffer (maybe this is a tad overblown too) a court defeat on their alfalfa environmental assessment. There must be something I (we) can grab onto as a gain in our struggles for fairness & justice, even if there's no precedent set by the ruling. There's got to be some karmic value (apologies to materialists in the crowd) even as Monsanto & its mercenaries strut n' laugh all the way to the bank. Pyrrhic victory? Ouch. Jon, thanks for your thorough response to my post. Sobering and appreciated. Like a bucket of cold water over the head to snap me out of my illusion. I needed that. best Tony
On 5/4/07, Jon Bosak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Tony Del Plato wrote: > > Are we reading/speaking the same language: patent revoked. While the > legal & > > technical issues are wrestled with, regardless of how long it took, the > > strange irony is that Monsanto's earlier arguments, prior to its > > appropriation of the seeds, were used against it in the recent decision. > The > > patent on one of the most common foods is no longer valid. > > The patent would have expired in another year *anyway.* > > > I think it's > > important that we "see" a crack in the Monsanto armor. > > Not if there isn't one. > > > It will take much > > more to "decomidify" patents on foods and living things, but most > struggles > > are won by a series of small steps. > > This was not one of those steps. The effect of the ruling on the > remainder of > Monsanto's patent portfolio is nothing. Nada. Zero. > > > Several years ago, WR Grace lost it's > > patent on products from the neem tree, again in Europe, years after it > > attempted to appropriate the source of ingredients used for thousands of > > years by peoples of India to make medicines & cosmetics. Percy Schmeiser > > lost his case in Canada based upon the fact that he "knowingly" planted > > round up rape seed. The Canadian high courts ducked the issue of > resolving > > "ownership" of the genetic materials. I think it's important that every > > chink in corporate control and the corporate state is acknowledged and > > celebrated. > > Sure, but this was not such an occasion. Look at the scoreboard again: > > Monsanto: 13 out of 14 possible years of gains from the soy patent. > > ETC Group: 13 years of legal fees down the drain without establishing > any useful precedent. > > > I'm getting a sense that we're having a hair splitting > > discussion here. > > Well, I don't have the time (or apparently the ability) to explain > the concept of a Pyrrhic victory, so I'll stop. But I can tell you > that Monsanto cried all the way to the bank. > > Jon > > _______________________________________________ > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > -- To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer. -- Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week. - Evan Esar _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
