Monsanto Sues DuPont Over Seed Traits

Monsanto has filed suit in federal court in St. Louis against DuPont and its Pioneer Hi-Bred seed subsidiary for illegally incorporating Monsanto gene technology in herbicide-tolerant soybean and corn seed. DuPont violated its license to use the technology, Monsanto says, when it "stacked" its own Optimum GAT herbicide-tolerant gene trait with Monsanto's Roundup Ready glyphosate tolerance trait. DuPont says the suit incorrectly states that it is legally prohibited from stacking the two traits. "Competition would be best served by a public policy that allows independent seed companies to assemble the best combination of traits and germplasm without restrictions," DuPont adds.