Montreal

A Canadian judge has ruled that a farmer must pay royalties to the biotechnology giant Monsanto for growing its genetically modified seed without the supplier's permission.

Percy Schmeiser, a 70-year-old grain farmer from Bruno, Saskatchewan, says the Roundup Ready canola (oilseed rape) seed found growing on his land was the result of contamination by pollen from neighbouring fields or seed blown off passing trucks. Monsanto said he knowingly planted it without paying for it.

But without ruling directly on that question, Justice Andrew MacKay said Schmeiser had infringed Monsanto's licences, and gave both sets of lawyers three weeks to settle appropriate damages. If they fail, he has ruled, Schmeiser must pay Monsanto a licence fee of Can$15,450 (US$9,800) — not the Can$105,000 demanded by the company. Moreover, the judge declined to order additional exemplary damages.

Schmeiser's lawyer, Terry Zakreski, argued that Monsanto had lost its exclusive rights to its patent on the gene — which allows plants to survive the application of Monsanto's weedkiller Roundup — when it was released into the environment. He said farmers are allowed to keep seed from their crops to plant the following year, and although Monsanto requires farmers using its canola seeds to sign an agreement that they will not do so, the company has no such power over farmers who do not buy Roundup Ready canola.

Trish Jordan, a spokeswoman for Monsanto in Canada, said the decision will help to protect the property rights of the company and of the thousands of farmers who pay for its technology.