varieties that are patented or otherwise owned by some entity (often a corporation). Under Article 28 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement), "planting, harvesting, saving, re-planting, and exchanging seeds of patented plants, or of plants containing patented cells and genes, constitutes use" and can in some cases be prohibited by the intellectual property laws of WTO Members. Significantly, farmers in developing countries are particularly affected by prohibitions on seed saving. There are some protections for re-use, called "farmer's privilege", in the 1991 International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention), but seed exchange remains prohibited. United States Originally the farmer's privilege to save seeds to grow subsequent crops was considered protected by the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970. American farmers, it was thought, could sell seed up to the amount saved for replanting their own acreage. That view came to an end in the latter part of the 20th century and early part of the 21st century, with changes in technology and law. First, in 1981 Diamond v. Chakrabarty established that companies may obtain patents for life-forms—originally genetically engineered unicellular bacteria. In 2002 J.E.M. Ag Supply v. Pioneer established that valid utility patents could be issued on sexually reproduced plants, such as seed crops (e.g., corn). In 2013 Bowman v. Monsanto Co. established that it was patent infringement for farmers to save crop seeds (soybeans in that case) and grow subsequent crops from them, if the seeds or plants were patented. Seed corporations are able to earn massive profits from this control over commercial seed supplies, and consequently further loss of control has been taken from US farmers over their farm production process. Seed sovereignty Seed sovereignty can be defined as the right "to breed and exchange diverse open-sourced seeds." It focuses largely on the rights of individuals to be able to save seed, and be independent from major seed companies. Seed sovereignty activists point to seed saving as an important practice in building food security, as well as restoring agricultural biodiversity. Activists also draw attention to the cultural importance of seed saving practices, especially their role in maintaining traditional plant varieties. It is closely connected to the food sovereignty movement and food justice movement. See also Australian Grains Genebank Heirloom plant Navdanya Seed library The Seed Savers' Network Seedy Sunday Notes References Further