Agricultural News
DuPont will Appeal Verdict in Monsanto vs. DuPont Patent Infringement Case
Thu, 02 Aug 2012 12:57:19 CDT
DuPont says it strongly disagrees with the verdict that was reached in favor of Monsanto in Monsanto's patent case against DuPont in the United States District Court in St. Louis, Missouri. The company said there were several fundamental errors in the case which deprived the jury of important facts and arguments and led to the disappointing outcome. DuPont said it will appeal at the earliest possible opportunity and expects to overturn this verdict.
"DuPont believes that the evidence presented during the trial demonstrated clearly that Monsanto's Roundup Ready® soybean patent (RE 39,247) is invalid and unenforceable and that Monsanto intentionally deceived the United States Patent and Trademark Office on several occasions as it sought patent protection. Further, DuPont believes that the damages awarded of $1 billion are unjustified, particularly considering that Pioneer has never sold a single Optimum® GAT® seed and has no plans to do so in the future. DuPont's license to sell Roundup Ready® soybeans remains in place and is not impacted by this verdict," said DuPont Senior Vice President and General Counsel Thomas L. Sager.
Several aspects of Monsanto's alleged misconduct involving this patent, which were not tried in this case, will be presented to a different jury as part of DuPont's antitrust and patent misuse case against Monsanto in September 2013.
"DuPont is and always has been committed to innovation and providing farmers with diverse technology options. We continue to stand by our position that we did not infringe the Roundup Ready® soybean patent and that the Monsanto patent is invalid. DuPont will continue to fight hard to ensure American farmers have choices and that no one company decides what is best for them," Sager said.
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