Ethics in Business Argument Paper

The Utilitarian View of the Existence of Neemix Commented [GSP1]: Capitalize the first letter of each word
in a title except for prepositions that are fewer than four
letters long.
Also, change “from” to “of.”

Neem seeds have been used for centuries in different fields of science, from the

prevention of illness to antiseptics to contraceptives. But the primary use was to control insect Commented [GSP2]: primary

pests. This last use is that for which neem seeds have been known since in 1992, when a patent

was granted to W.R. Grace & Co. by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for their

product Neemix. This patent gave Grace the exclusive use of neem seeds to be commercialized

as the Neemix pesticide which appeared to be a threat to many people as from that moment Commented [GSP3]: Did it give them exclusive use of
neem seeds for any pesticide, or just for the one they
manufactured, Neemix?
they would have to start paying for using a pesticide that they have been using for many years.

This fact affects many people, so we are going to study how the ethical theory of utilitarianism

would analyze this fact. Utilitarianism states that morally the best action is one that comes to Commented [GSP4]: Wrong word or missing words.

produce greater utility for the greatest number of people. Utilitarianism has as its greatest

representatives the philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. This paper will talk

about the position that the utilitarianism would take in the case W.R Grace & Co. and the

Neemix Patent. In this case there are two opposing parties, in one side Grace company, and in

the other side, the people that have been using neem for many years as a pesticide. As the Commented [GSP5]: Subject/verb number disagreement
(people is a collective noun, hence is plural, so “people
have”).
utilitarian believes that the correct action is the one that produces greater utility to the

majority, we must study the number of people that are affected in various ways by the Neemix

patent. As this thesis looks to see what the utilitarian position would me in this matter, I will Commented [GSP6]: The number of people that are
affected in various ways by the Neemix patent.

not enter to discuss legal facts such as the novelty or non-obviousness of the patent

application.
Ethics in Business Argument Paper

Grace company assures the public that it has invested around 10 million dollars for the Commented [GSP7]: Transitive verb: “assures us” or
“assures the public.”

creation of the Neemix patent. Patent law requires that apart from the discovery, human

innovation must also be done. For this reason, Grace believes that the Neemix patent is lawful.

Neemix is a pesticide used by farmers that helps to fight plagues and pests. The effectiveness of

the product is unquestionable as it is very harmful for more than 200 species of insect pests and Commented [GSP8]: It would be worth explaining how
Neemix extends the shelf-life of neem-based pesticide here.

it is non-toxic to plants and animals. For this reason, Neemix is one of the biggest assets for

Grace and it brings a lot of revenues to the company. This means that many agricultural

companies use this product in the production of food for both people and animals. This is

important because utilitarianism measures the number of people who benefit from an action to

assess whether the action is good or bad. Also, Grace has arrangements with Indian suppliers to

get neem seeds. This agreement could be seen as a way of benefitting all parts as Grace gets

access to neem seeds and an Indian company earns money from the business. In contrast, there

are reasons to be against the existence of the Neemix patent. Neem seeds have been used for

centuries and one of their uses was as a pesticide. Farmers do not understand why they must

now pay for a pesticide they have been using for centuries. Farmers from less developed Commented [GSP9]: Ungrammatical

countries such as India or countries in Africa or the Middle East benefit from neem as it can

grow in areas that are not fertile at all and the attention that this species needs is insignificant.

This makes everything much easier to poor farmers who do not have to pay for pesticides.

The Grace company’s position could be the action to be right for the utilitarians if we

look at the consequences of Neemix product. This product is proved to be effective and used by

many of Grace’s customers as Severance, Shapiro and Werhane states in their case [Page 177 Commented [GSP10]: Us the name of the author of the
case study.
Ethics in Business Argument Paper

“By early 1995, sales of Neemix brought in about $60 million … and references in the press to

the effectiveness of Neemix were becoming frequent.”] It means that the product was highly

used in the agricultural sector so part of the food that the human beings eat or use to feed the

animals is obtained thanks to the pesticide Neemix. It is not possible to count how many people

benefit from the patent, but it is presumed to be really high. This is important in order to

compare which majority is larger, those who benefit from the existence of the patent or those

who want the elimination of Neemix. Also, Grace company’s main business is the creation of

chemical products but in this case, Neemix is a natural pesticide. Natural pesticides are much

more beneficial for the public health than synthetic pesticides as the last ones are responsible

for the death of 20,000 people per year [Page 182 “The WHO rates the former problem a

serious one, estimating that synthetic pesticides fatally poison 20,000 people per year”]. This

leaves Grace in a better position on the moral scale as the company look for the benefit of the

society, something that Jeremy Bentham believes to be the way of comparing or grading

different actions. Moreover, following the thinking of John Stuart Mill, it could be assured that

not only do companies have the bottom line of their business objectives to make money, but

also through their actions they seek to achieve the happiness of society [Page 89“If companies

adopt Mill’s utilitarianism, it will begin to be concerned not only with outcome with regard to

bottom line financial gain, but the effects which its practices have upon the happiness-

achievement capacities of society.”]. Commented [GSP11]: Incomplete sentence.

The agreements that Grace company has with companies in India to provide them with

neem seeds should also be evaluated. Having an Indian company that helps in the production of
Ethics in Business Argument Paper

Neemix indicates that Indian workers also benefit from the existence of the patent. Without it,

they would not have their jobs, so they could not earn money to live. In this way, the existence

of the patent is useful since both parties benefit, obtaining the happiness that the utilitarianism

of Jeremy Bentham greatly values.

In contrast to all of the above, one might think that the existence of the Neemix patent

threatens the happiness of the vast majority of people. Neem seeds have been used in India as

pesticides for many years, being that the first formal study of their use as pesticides in 1920. Commented [GSP12]: “being that”
Also worth noting that it was used as a pesticide for
hundreds of years prior to that first formal study.
This means that the use of neem seeds as a pesticide is deeply rooted in Indian culture, so it

may be considered as prior art. India is not a country that is highly developed so access to

chemicals is limited. For this reason, neem seeds are used by farmers because they grow on

trees that grow in adverse conditions. There are about 1.4 billion people living in India, which

suggests that the use of neem seeds as a pesticide affects many people. This is important at the

time of applying the utilitarian theory since the number of people who get more happiness

from the existence or not of the Neemix patent must be compared. Commented [GSP13]: Excellent point.

Furthermore, John Stuart Mill claims that there are two classes of pleasures- higher and

lower. Mill gives more value to the higher pleasures because they are the ones that

differentiate us from the animals. Higher pleasures are of the intellect, the noble feelings,

imagination and moral sentiments. We could say that Grace company was having pleasures of

imagination as they say that they created Neemix pesticide and they devoted a lot of time and

money to the development of the patent [Page 186 “they had spent approximately $10 million
Ethics in Business Argument Paper

assessing previous ineffective preservation processes and as a result had come up with a

procedure that worked.”]. The problem is that Grace did not innovate much apart from

extending the shelf life of the product which cannot be considered a huge innovation because a

person having the ordinary skill in the art could do it [Page 184 “More specifically, the protest

documents asserted that the patent should be overturned because “the company’s method of

extracting stable compounds has been widely used prior to the patent’s issuance and because

the extraction methods have been previously described in printed publication.”]. And the neem Commented [GSP14]: Well, they did extend the shelf life
of the product.

seeds were already used as pesticide years before they came up with the patent. So, the

pleasure of fairness should come up as it is not fair for the farmers to pay for the use of neem

as pesticide from now on if they have used for years. The patent itself does not meet the Commented [GSP15]: True, but there seems to be some
question about whether the farmers would have to
compensate Grace for the “neem tea” that they produced
requirements to be patentable and therefore is not legal. For this reason, Neemix can not reach themselves on site.

India as a patent and farmers should not be forced to pay for the use of neem tea produced

themselves on site.

In conclusion, the existence of the Neemix patent has led to a battle between two

opposing parties. Jeremy Bentham stated that the best action is the one that makes the

greatest number of people happy. In this case, it is difficult to know how many people benefit

from the Neemix product because its use has an indirect impact due to its use in agriculture.

We can not estimate how many people eat products in which Neemix has been used to protect

plants from pests. But neem seeds have been used for many years in India and the population

of this country is very large. Farmers should not pay for something that they have been using
Ethics in Business Argument Paper

for years because it is not fair, and fairness for John Stuart Mill is one of the highest pleasure

capacities.

All quotations have been obtained from the textbook: Ethical Issues in Business: A Philosophical

Approach (Eighth Edition). Thomas Donaldson and Patricia H. Werhane. ISBN: 978-0-13-184619-

ARGUMENT: Focusing on only the facts that you have presented, this is a very strong argument

— your conclusions are well supported by the evidence you present.

EXPLICATION: You explain the case only in part — you ignore the question (which the textbook

points to but does not answer) whether the people of India would really have to pay for using

their own “neem tea” that they produce from the trees growing on their farms. If not, then it

seems like they’re happiness is not really adversely affected by Grace’s patent.

STRUCTURE: Good.

GRAMMAR/PUNCTUATION: I have made some corrections and given you some pointers.

GRADE: A-