Supreme Court of the United States
J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc., Dba Farm Advantage, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
December 10, 2001534 U.S. 124
Summary
The Court held that newly developed plant breeds, including sexually reproduced plants, fall within the broad subject-matter language of 35 U.S.C. § 101 and may receive utility patents. It concluded that neither the Plant Patent Act nor the Plant Variety Protection Act makes its protections exclusive or creates an irreconcilable conflict with utility-patent protection, because the statutes impose different requirements and confer different protections. Justice Breyer, dissenting, would have held that the more specific plant statutes exclude plants from § 101, while Justice Scalia concurred in the judgment based on the canon disfavoring repeal by implication.