A Creative Look At Proving Infringement

The U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit reiterated its position on calculating damages in patent infringement suits using a multi-factor "reasonable royalty" equation and explicitly affirmed its precedent that the "statutes specifically authorizing the patenting of plants did not eliminate the availability of utility patent protection covering plants." Monsanto Co. v. David, Case No. 07-1104 (Fed. Cir., Feb. 5, 2008) (Lourie, J).

The facts of this case were similar to those in Monsanto v. McFarling The defendant, Loren David, is a commercial farmer, who—as part of an agreement to purchase and license Monsanto's patented, genetically modified soybean seeds—was required, among other things, to only use the seeds for planting that particular season. Through circumstantial evidence, Monsanto showed that David had violated the terms of his agreement. The district court held that David had