In 2014, the plaintiff seed company filed a complaint against numerous cotton farmers for violating the plaintiff's general utility patents on cotton seed. The patents limit the use of the seed for planting a commercial crop in a single growing season, and prohibits a the buyer from saving harvested seed for the purpose of planting a subsequent crop. In addition, the buyer can't sell saved seed or supply or transfer any seed produced from the purchased seed to third parties for planting. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant, a cotton farmer in Georgia, intentionally planted the plaintiff's patented seed during three consecutive crop years without buying the seed from an authorized dealer and paying the technology use fee or obtaining a license from the plaintiff. All other farmers who saved seed and replanted in the defendant's area settled the plaintiff's claims, but the defendant refused to settle. The court, in this consent order, determined that the defendant violated the plaintiff's patents on cotton seed willfully and intentionally by planting the seed without the authority to do so, concealing the illegal planting and selling the patented seeds to other cotton farmers for planting. The court ruled that the defendant was liable for damages to the plaintiff in the amount of $360,000. The court also entered a permanent injunction against the defendant barring him from using, buying, acquiring, selling, offering to sell or otherwise transferring any of the plaintiff's patented seed. Monsanto Company, et al. v. Ponder, No. 7:14-CV-00013-CAR (M.D. Ga. Mar. 4, 2015).