Monsanto’s herbicide resistance gene

June 24, 2009
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

Monsanto was the first company to develop a gene for resistance to herbicide when it launched Roundup Ready soybeans back in 1996.

Pioneer and other seed companies now pay Monsanto for the right to use the Roundup Ready characteristic.

The technology is used in about 95% of soybeans planted in the U.S., and Monsanto is said to have used strict license agreements to exclude competition and raise prices to farmers.

Monsanto claims DuPont chose to join the biotech character in soybean seeds to hide problems with a rival technology, Optimum GAT.

“DuPont’s filing today is yet another smoke screen to divert attention from its problem-plagued product,” Scott Partridge, deputy general counsel for Monsanto, said in a statement.