July 1, 2010

Bayer ends corn seed lawsuit with Syngenta

Bayer AG resolved a lawsuit brought on by Syngenta AG challenging the validity of three Bayer US patents on insect-resistance seed traits.

Terms were not disclosed in papers filed on Tuesday (June 29) in federal court in Washington after Bayer had claimed Syngenta needed a patent license to sell genetically-modified (GM) corn with the insect-resistant traits. Syngenta contended the patents are invalid.

In May this year, Syngenta AG said it planned to challenge Monsanto Co. with their launch of Viptera GM corn seeds modified to combat damaging insects.

The case is Syngenta Seeds Inc. v. Bayer Bioscience NV, 09cv2370, US District Court for the District of Columbia (Washington).