Monsanto Awarded a Whopping $1 Billion in DuPont Trial

by Angela Nazworth | August 2, 2012 2:24 pm

A St. Louis Mo. jury came to the conclusion Wednesday that DuPont (NYSE:DD[1]) — along with its agricultural crop subsidiary DuPont Pioneer — violated a 2002 licensing agreement with Monsanto (NYSE:MON[2]).

Monsanto was awarded $1 billion in damages for DuPont’s patent infringement on the seed company’s Roundup Ready technology.

“This verdict also underscores that DuPont’s unauthorized use of the Roundup Ready technology was both deliberate and aimed at rescuing its own failed technology,” Monsanto’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel David Snively, said in a press release[3].

DuPont, which says that Monsanto deliberately “deceived the United States Patent and Trademark Office on several occasions as it sought patent protection of the story,” will appeal the 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,” DuPont Senior Vice President and General Counsel Thomas L. Sager said in a statement[4].

The company also mentioned its antitrust and patent misuse case against Monsanto that will be tried in court in September 2013. DuPont says “several aspects of Monsanto’s misconduct involving this patent,” will be presented during the upcoming case.

Endnotes:

DD: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=DD
MON: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=MON
said in a press release: http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/2012-08-01-Federal-Court-Jury-Finds-In-Favor-Of-Monsanto-In-Patent-Case-DuPont-And-DuPont-Pioneer-Found-Guilty-Of-Willful-Infringement-Of-Intellectual-Property
said in a statement: http://www2.dupont.com/media/en-us/news-events/all-releases.html

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/08/monsanto-awarded-a-whopping-1-billion-in-dupont-trial/