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DuPont and Monsanto settle lawsuits, announce new agreements

Monsanto and DuPont say they have reached a deal to dismiss patent lawsuits against one another. 

At the same time, the two seed giants have announced a series of multi-million dollar licensing agreements which they say will expand the range of seed products they can offer farmers.   

According to a Reuters report, the deal tosses out a one-billion dollar verdict that DuPont owed Monsanto.  Instead, it calls for DuPont to make at least 1.75 billion dollars in royalty payments over several years in return for a multi-year license for Monsanto’s next-generation soybean technologies in the U.S. and Canada.

That means DuPont Pioneer will be able to offer Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans as early as 2014, and Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Xtend glyphosate and dicamba tolerant soybeans as early as 2015, pending regulatory approvals.

According to a DuPont news release, DuPont Pioneer also will receive regulatory data rights for the soybean and corn traits previously licensed from Monsanto, enabling it to create an array of stacked trait combinations using traits or genetics from DuPont Pioneer or others.  Monsanto will receive access to certain DuPont Pioneer disease resistance and corn defoliation patents.