Federal Court of Canada has issued a default judgment against Doug Van Verdegem, and Bar V Farms Ltd. of Strathmore, Alberta, for patent infringement pertaining to the Roundup Ready gene in canola.
The court determined that Van Verdegem violated the terms and conditions of the contract he signed with Monsanto Canada by deliberately and knowingly planting, growing, harvesting and selling Roundup Ready canola without paying for the technology - an unfair competitive advantage.
Monsanto says it has over 65,000 agreements throughout Canada and that they attempted to resolve the matter with Van Verdegem through dialogue. The decision of the Court was based on detailed evidence, including independent expert financial analysis of the damages owed by Van Verdegem for infringement.
Monsanto has said it is donating the judgment award to charity.
I know some folks may not like Monsanto. Hey, I don't much care for our Governor Jerry Brown - but I don't steal from him, and you shouldn't steal from Monsanto and assume you will find a friendly judge.
