July 13, 2012
Monsanto, DuPont compete over control of popular seed technology
The latest saga in the on-going battle between two agricultural giants, Monsanto and DuPont, began this week, over control of a popular seed technology worth billions of dollars.
The two companies have been battling it out for years over the use the seed technology that makes soy, corn and other crops tolerant of glyphosate-based herbicide, letting farmers spray the weed killer directly over the crops.
In the trial in St. Louis, expected to last about three weeks, Monsanto is arguing that DuPont through its Pioneer Hi-Bred International unit has violated a 2002 licensing agreement giving DuPont the right to use Monsanto''s glyphosate-tolerant Roundup Ready soy trait. DuPont counters that Monsanto acted fraudulently in obtaining the patent (RE 39,247).
This is not the first time the two companies have come head to head in the courtroom, in May 2009 Monsanto sued DuPont for what it said was unauthorised use of the Roundup Ready herbicide tolerant product. Monsanto said DuPont''s Optimum Gat soy seed was a failure as a competitor to Roundup Ready, leading DuPont to include the licensed Roundup Ready trait in combination with its own glyphosate-resistant genetic trait.
The US District Court in St. Louis ruled in 2010 that the Roundup Ready license agreements between DuPont and Monsanto contain an unwritten "implied" term that prohibited DuPont from stacking its Optimum GAT trait with Monsanto''s Roundup Ready trait in soy or corn.
But the court said its ruling was narrow, and said that DuPont''s separate antitrust and patent fraud claims were not impacted by that ruling and could proceed.