J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc., Dba Farm Advantage, Inc., et al. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
Decided December 10, 2001. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 99-1996 · 534 U.S. 124 (2001) · Cited 254 times
Holding
Newly developed plant breeds fall within the subject matter of § 101, and neither the PPA nor the PVPA limits the scope of § 101’s coverage.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 6–2.
Majority · 5
- Clarence Thomas · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- David Hackett Souter
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Concurring · 1
- Antonin Scalia · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 2
- John Paul Stevens
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · filed a dissenting opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Diamond v. Chakrabarty · 447 U.S. 303 (1980)
- United States v. Estate of Romani · 523 U.S. 517 (1998)
- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Epstein · 516 U.S. 367 (1996)
- Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
- Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams · 532 U.S. 105 (2001)
- Radzanower v. Touche Ross & Co. · 426 U.S. 148 (1976)
- Kewanee Oil Co. v. Bicron Corp. · 416 U.S. 470 (1974)
- Connecticut National Bank v. Germain · 503 U.S. 249 (1992)
- Mazer v. Stein · 347 U.S. 201 (1954)
- Asgrow Seed Co. v. Winterboer · 513 U.S. 179 (1995)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. · 569 U.S. 576 (2013)
- Eldred v. Ashcroft · 537 U.S. 186 (2003)
- Federal Communications Commission v. Nextwave Personal Communications Inc. · 537 U.S. 293 (2003)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2001). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).