navigating the patent maze

Two patent disputes between these two giants has been settled: a patent interference in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over who deserves a patent on transgenic broad leaf crops, and a patent infringement suit brought by Syngenta. The press releases from both companies provides little other information about what patents are at issue, making it difficult for this author to discuss the claims and their possible impacts.

The press release states that each company gets

“royalty-free, non-exclusive licenses related to the development, use and sale of transgenic crops containing agricultural technologies such as insect-protection and herbicide-tolerance produced through the use of the cross-licensed Agrobacterium-mendiated transformation technology.”

This settlement will likely be good for the customers of Monsanto and Syngenta, but if, as is surmised from the press release, that these patents encompass basic tools for plant transformation, we urge wide-spread licensing to all ag-biotech companies.