Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

MON sues DuPont for patent infringement of “seed chipping” technology:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-19/monsanto-files-suit-against-dupont-over-seed-development-1-.html

[Dupont] Pioneer’s laser-assisted seed selection infringes Monsanto patents covering a method known as seed chipping, a way of testing the genetics of a large batch of seeds while maintaining their ability to be planted, Monsanto said.

The new complaint, filed yesterday in federal court in St. Louis, expands the legal battle between the two largest seed companies. Pioneer sued Monsanto in 2011 over ways to produce corn seed and a 2009 patent suit Monsanto filed against Pioneer over herbicide-resistant corn and soybean seeds is scheduled for trial next month.

… Seed chipping enables automated sampling of material from seeds without harming their viability. Researchers can cull individual seeds to choose ones that have desired traits and reject others. The process shaves months off the development cycle and eliminates waste, according to the complaint.

…Monsanto said it first demonstrated its seed-chipper system in August 2007…. Within months of the company’s patent applications being made public, [Dupont] Pioneer filed applications “which include crude, hastily hand-drawn figures and purport to describe and claim subject matter disclosed in Monsanto’s seed-chipper patent applications,” St. Louis-based Monsanto said in the complaint.

MON claims that DD used the ripped-off technology to develop AQUAmax corn, a drought-tolerant product for the US central corn belt that loosely competes with MON’s SmartStax (#msg-58472209).

Note: DD’s AQUAmax is based entirely on conventional breeding, not new traits.