Patent Law

This Round

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

Rivals Monsanto and DuPont have battled over patents through the years. In the late 1990s, Monsanto went after DuPont for breaching a licensing agreement on pest-resistant corn, resulting in a revised licensing agreement. In 2002, DuPont licensed Monsanto's Roundup Ready seed technology, which allows crops to be sprayed with herbicide Roundup and survive. DuPont came up with its own Optimum GAT herbicide resistant trait for soybeans and corn, but found out in field tests it wasn't quite up to snuff. So, DuPont stacked the Roundup Ready trait on top of the Optimum GAT trait, and found it plow-worthy. Monsanto found it complaint worthy.

Yesterday, in a heavily redacted complaint, Monsanto filed suit against DuPont for patent infringement (RE39,247; 5,633,435), breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.

"As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant puffed before going moralistic. "However, unlawfully taking technology is neither imitation nor flattery; it is unethical and wrong. A true technology company respects patents and its contractual agreements and delivers new products through its own innovation and honest collaboration. DuPont has failed on all counts."

"The litigation filed today by Monsanto is more of what we have come to expect from them," retorted DuPont VP James Borel. "Monsanto has a long history of using litigation and aggressive tactics to preserve their monopoly and attempt to intimidate customers, seed partners and competitors. DuPont Optimum GAT soybeans that include the [Roundup Ready] trait are better products, and we believe our customers should have the right to plant them."

Trash talk before getting down to serious negotiations helps clear the throat.

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on May 06, 2009 (boomark / email).