Insurance only protects against events that are contingent or unknown at the time the policy is acquired. A Mississippi farmer named Mitchell Scruggs learned this lesson the hard way, after several years in court in multiple cases.
Monsanto Co. develops, manufactures, licenses and sells agricultural biotechnology and products, including genetically modified seeds.
Because Scruggs had replanted its seeds, Monsanto filed suit against him in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi on Sept. 7, 2000. It alleged that Scruggs “knowingly, intentionally and willfully planted unlicensed seed without authorization from Monsanto and used such seed in violation of Monsanto's patent rights.”
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