St. Louis, Missouri and Monheim,
Germany
October 14, 2003
Agreement settles multiple patent disputes
Bayer
CropScience AG and
Monsanto Company announced today a broad-reaching business
agreement that will provide farmers worldwide greater access to
the new agricultural technologies being developed by both
companies. Today's agreement dismisses several long-pending
lawsuits and resolves several outstanding patent disputes
between the companies.
The
companies agreed to cross-license each other under their
respective patent estates for herbicide tolerance and insect
resistance technologies.
"These
agreements will enable us to focus on serving our customers
rather than spending our energy on lengthy legal disputes. We
look forward to a more positive business environment to develop
and commercialize innovative plant biotechnology products," said
Bernward Garthoff, Bayer CropScience's Chief Technology Officer.
"This is a
win for farmers and a positive development for the agricultural
industry," said Robert T. Fraley, Ph.D., Executive Vice
President and Chief Technology Officer for Monsanto. "This
agreement will allow us to accelerate the development of our
pipeline and bring new products to farmers around the globe."
The
agreement includes the following:
-
Monsanto and Bayer cross-license enabling
technology for certain herbicide-tolerant crops. In part, this
agreement enables broader farmer access to
glufosinate-tolerant and glyphosate-tolerant crops.
-
Bayer provides Monsanto with a non-exclusive,
royalty-bearing license to Bayer's technology related to
Monsanto's corn-rootworm product.
-
Monsanto amends Bayer's existing non-exclusive,
royalty-bearing licenses for use of Monsanto's
herbicide-tolerant and insect-protected technologies for
cotton.
-
Bayer amends Monsanto's existing non-exclusive,
royalty-bearing license for use of Bayer's Dual Bt
insect-protected enabling technology to provide more favorable
terms for all crops.
Additional
details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Monsanto
Company is a leading provider of technology-based solutions and
agricultural products that improve farm productivity.
Bayer
CropScience, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of some
EUR 6 billion, is one of the world's leading innovative crop
science companies in the areas of crop protection, seeds and
green biotechnology, as well as non- agricultural pest control.
The company offers an outstanding range of products and
extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and
for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a
global workforce of more than 20,000 and is represented in 122
countries, ensuring proximity to dealers and consumers.
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