Monsanto, Aventis Settle GM Cotton Suits

Monsanto, Aventis Settle GM Cotton Suits

ST. LOUIS--Monsanto Co. and Lyon, France-based Aventis CropScience announced a series of agreements on March 27 that will settle two lawsuits between the companies to avoid patent difficulties in the development and commercialization of genetically modified (GM) varieties of cotton. The agreement will allow both companies to compete in the market to provide GM varieties of cotton to farmers. In addition, the agreement stated that Monsanto authorized Aventis to immediately commercialize in the United States Monsanto's Roundup Ready and Bollgard technologies in Aventis' FiberMax cotton varieties. Aventis, on the other hand, licensed to Monsanto its insect-resistance management patents that relate to certain combinations of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) genes to control susceptible insects. Aventis and Monsanto cross-licensed each other under all their other existing cotton transformation patents. The parties also settled the pending lawsuit in Lubbock, Texas, by Dr. Norma Trolinder and Aventis against Monsanto relating to the inventorship of the Agracetus cotton transformation patents by agreeing to add Trolinder as a co-inventor. Aventis, as assignee of Trolinder's rights, becomes a joint owner of those patents. For more information, contact Lori Fisher of Monsanto at (314) 694-8535 or Rick Roundtree of Aventis CropScience (U.S.) at (919) 549-2310.