Roundup

Monsanto Sues Syngenta Over Corn Patent

JIM SUHR / AP 13may04

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ST. LOUIS - Monsanto Co. has accused Syngenta AG of patent infringement, looking to block the rival agribusiness giant from technology used in producing a popular genetically modified corn.

The federal lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Delaware, involves what St. Louis-based Monsanto called its "fundamental technique" used in producing glyphosate-tolerant plants, namely corn.

Glyphosate is a key ingredient in Roundup, the company's popular herbicide. Monsanto's Roundup sales have been under pressure since 2000, when the company lost U.S. patent protection for glyphosate.

Such corn in question is genetically engineered to resist Roundup, meaning farmers could spray the herbicide without harming the corn plants.

Switzerland-based Syngenta said earlier Wednesday that it had bought rights to some parts of the so-called GA21 technology from Bayer CropScience - a unit of drug-making Bayer AG - and plans to use and market that commodity in the United States.

Monsanto said it had not licensed Bayer CropScience to its "proprietary intellectual property" for use in corn. In filing suit, Monsanto wants a federal judge to permanently bar Syngenta from marketing GA21 corn, arguing that Syngenta's doing so would violate a Monsanto patent.

"The bottom line is Bayer did not have a license for the intellectual property owned by Monsanto, and Syngenta does not have a license either," Carl Casale, Monsanto's executive vice president, said in a statement earlier Wednesday.

Without specifying terms of its deal with Bayer CropScience, Syngenta said earlier Wednesday it would offer the technology in certain hybrids and through licenses with other seed companies.

"This transaction gives Syngenta fast-track entry into an important segment of the corn crop protection market," David Jones, Syngenta's chief of business development, said in a statement.

Messages left Wednesday night with Syngenta offices in Switzerland and the United States, seeking comment about the lawsuit, were not immediately returned.

The GA21 technology largely has been phased out in the marketplace, giving way to improved glyphosate-tolerant NK603, commercially available since 2001. Monsanto's NK603 is marketed as Roundup Ready Corn 2.

The lawsuit came just two days after Monsanto announced it was shelving plans to offer farmers its genetically modified spring wheat, which had drawn global opposition from food makers, environmentalists and consumers.

Monsanto cited economic factors in backing away from marketing that wheat including a 25 percent drop in U.S. and Canadian spring wheat acreage since 1997 and a lack of "widespread industry alignment" behind biotech wheat.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040513/ap_on_bi_ge/monsanto_patent_lawsuit_2 13may04