The respondents hold a patent for genetically modified genes and cells that confer resistance to glyphosate herbicides.
The appellants, commercial canola farmers, saved and planted seed that they knew or ought to have known contained the patented genes and cells, without obtaining a licence.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that the patent was valid, as it claimed the genes and cells rather than the unpatentable plant itself.
The Court further held that the appellants infringed the patent by 'using' the invention, as their cultivation of the crop deprived the respondents of the full enjoyment of their monopoly.
However, the Court set aside the award for an accounting of profits, finding that the appellants earned no profit causally attributable to the invention.
