Within the potentially rich but still largely unexplored lore of intellectual property (we are still waiting for an Isaiah Berlin of the history of IP), I came across a case that should be of considerable interest to the readers of this blog. In its wisdom, the US Patent Office in September 1997 judged the result, named basmati 867, sufficiently novel to grant it patent #5,663,484, entitled Basmati Rice Lines and Grains , giving RiceTec exclusive rights to any basmati hybrid grown anywhere...

Fidel Castro caused a "hiccup," trade consultant Kirby Jones said, but business has continued seamlessly under the caretaker government of his brother Raul Castro, and is picking up. He said 250 agribusiness executives, food exporters and farm group leaders will meet in Havana for three days to negotiate new contracts. farm state delegation after another has gone to Havana this year to pitch sales of wheat, corn, beans, peas, lentils, chicken and other products needed by communist Cuba to...

So it's really important that we do everything we can to get the price up to a level that rewards the farmers. As Pollan says, the money, which in 2005 kept the price of corn at around half what it costs to produce, is in effect a subsidy for the big American companies that buy and process the corn - and these companies and their political supporters are the ones that dictate American farm policy. So why - and this is what we've come here to ask - in this time of historic plenty, is the...

The number of farmers continues to drop, feeding both the idea of putting together programs to encourage young farmers and the idea of changing from a commodity-based approach to a rural development approach in farm policy. Leaders of the cotton and rice producer groups have balked at stricter payment limitations, calling them an attack on their way of life because the cost of production per acre is higher for their crops. Also, as the person who often tries to bring state and national...

But he said they prefer unutilized lands turned into jatropha plantations rather than converting existing farmlands planted to corn, rice and other crops. Doctor said the firm is aggressive in its jatropha project now that the country is implementing the Biofuels Act, which was signed into law only last Jan. He said jatropha would help alleviate poverty in the countryside and can help in the protection of the environment since it can prevent soil erosion. It plans to establish a refinery...

Dow last month said Romeo Kreinberg, head of its specialty businesses and Pedro Reinhard, a senior adviser and board member, had engaged in business activity that was highly inappropriate. Dow, the largest US chemical maker, was earlier this year the subject of numerous leveraged buyout rumors, that had spurred its shares to a 52-week high. Dow fired the two men, after alleging they had conducted multiple meetings, in multiple locations, over a period of several months, relating to the...