Elena Kagan

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Monsanto Co. (MON) can use its patents to prevent farmers from planting later generations of genetically engineered seeds without paying for them.Monsanto's Roundup Ready seeds render crops resistant to weed killer and are planted on much of the nation's farm acreage. But unlike many inventions, Monsanto's patented biotechnology is self-replicating, prompting the company to prohibit farmers from saving and planting later-generation seeds from their harvests.The Supreme Court, in an unanimous ruling by Justice Elena Kagan, agreed with Monsanto that an elderly Indiana soybean farmer made unauthorized copies of the company's patented inventions by planting seeds that contained Roundup Ready traits.A loss for Monsanto could have upended the company's business model because the company could have lost the ability to restrict reproduction of its products as soon as the first generation of seeds hit the market.The decision affirmed an $84,000 judgment ...

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