| Two large and odious companies just went head to head in court: Monsanto and DuPont. In this round, Monsanto won... but the door is open for DuPont in the future, if Monsanto gets nailed by the Dept of Justice on antitrust grounds later.
Recall that Monsanto owns the Roundup Ready trait and other seed companies are only allowed to engineer it into their own seeds if they sign contracts with Monsanto. DuPont previously got a license from Monsanto to develop a line of Roundup Ready corn and soybeans. However, they've now developed a NEW line of seeds called Optimum GAT that adds a new DuPont gene along with the Monsanto genes... and Monsanto sued them over it.
The U.S. District cout in St. Louis ruled that DuPont did NOT have the right to do this, according to Monsanto's licensing agreement with DuPont. However, this decision only holds IF Monsanto's licensing agreement isn't ruled to be illegal. DuPont is challenging Monsanto's licensing agreement on antitrust grounds, saying that it represents anticompetitive behavior. In other words, Monsanto may have won Round 1 but buckle up for a long ride:
"This litigation is just beginning; we will now vigorously pursue our antitrust, license and patent fraud claims," DuPont Senior Vice President and General Counsel Thomas L. Sager said in a statement Saturday.
Meanwhile, Monsanto's also in court over its GM alfalfa. |
