St. Louis, Missouri
July 26, 2002
Monsanto Company (NYSE:
MON) said today it will vigorously defend itself against two
baseless lawsuits, both filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware
by units of Swiss-based
Syngenta.
"Syngenta is threatening American corn and cotton farmers
without attempting to resolve their dispute outside the
courtroom," said David F. Snively, assistant general counsel for
Monsanto. "These patent infringement claims are first being
voiced by Syngenta years after insect-protected corn and cotton
technologies developed by Monsanto have been successfully used
by American farmers."
In one of the suits, Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc., sued Monsanto
and Delta and Pine Land Company. In the other suit, Syngenta
Seeds, Inc., sued Monsanto; DEKALB Genetics Corp.; Pioneer
Hi-Bred International, Inc.; Dow Agrosciences, LLC, Mycogen
Plant Science, Inc.; and Agrigentics, Inc.
In the past, Novartis -- which is now part of Syngenta -- sued
Monsanto and DEKALB for patent infringement involving corn
technology in the same federal court -- and lost. In 1998, a
jury determined that Monsanto and DEKALB were not liable and the
Novartis patent was invalid. "We're confident that this is
another case that when the facts are brought forward, it will be
obvious that Monsanto is not liable since it did not infringe a
patent, and that others in the scientific field were the first
to innovate and bring forward insect-protected corn and cotton
technologies," Snively said.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farmproductivity and food quality.
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