January 18, 2010

Monsanto gains narrow victory in license agreement conflict

A US District Court judge in St. Louis has issued a "narrow" ruling in favour of Monsanto in a dispute with rival DuPont over a license agreement.

Judge E. Richard Webber ruled on Friday (Jan 15) that Monsanto's licensing agreement prohibits DuPont from inserting its Optimum GAT gene into corn and soy plants with Monsanto traits.

However, Webber said his ruling was narrow, and did not consider whether Monsanto has the right under antitrust laws to restrict how competitors breed and sell plants with Monsanto traits.

DuPont's separate antitrust and patent fraud claims against the crop biotechnology giant were not impacted by the ruling, according to DuPont.

This litigation is just beginning and the company will now vigorously pursue the antitrust, license and patent fraud claims, DuPont Senior Vice President and General Counsel Thomas L. Sager said in a statement on Saturday (Jan 16).

On Thursday (Jan 14), Monsanto said it received a formal demand from the US Justice Department as part of an antitrust investigation into whether or not the St. Louis-based company is trying to prevent competitors from using a genetically modified soy.