Monsanto

This week our group is researching intellectual property issues of Monsanto, an American seed technology giant.

Here is the research I did on Monsanto:

                   
Monsanto holds over 400 plant technology patents. The company is allowed to patent seed trait technology because it is considered intellectual property—the U.S protects all intellectual property rights. After 20 years, a Monsanto patent expires and that technology is made available to competitors and the public in general. Monsanto has sued thousands of farmers for breaching their “stewardship agreement”. All settlement money is invested into scholarship funds for programs like 4-H and Future Famers of America, which both benefit youth in the U.S.
        
The most interesting part of all of this information is how Monsanto uses its settlement money. Why do they give money won from farmers back to future farmers? It seems like an odd cycle to be in. I suppose that their rationale for doing this is to create farmers who have a loyalty to Monsanto because the company funded their education. Creating loyalty between Monsanto and farmers will assure the company that those farmers will be good customers and abide by “stewardship agreements”.