Bayer Wins Agchem Patent Suit In China

Bayer CropScience has won a lawsuit against two Chinese firms that it claims were infringing its patent on mefenpyr, a chemical that improves herbicide selectivity. The two Chinese firms, Jiangsu Tianrong Group and Yixing Hua Dong Agrochemical, will issue a public apology and pay damages to Bayer. Bayer says Tianrong unlawfully produced mefenpyr and that both firms sold it in China and other Asian countries. The case was settled by court mediation in Jiangsu, a coastal province where the Swiss agrochemical producer Syngenta won a patent lawsuit against Chinese firms in 2004.