As of Jan. 24, Dow AgroSciences announced it had learned from a press release issued by Bayer CropScience that Bayer filed a lawsuit against Dow AgroSciences late on Friday, Jan. 20, in federal court in Virginia. The full response from Dow AgroSciences is printed below.
"Although Dow AgroSciences has not seen the complaint, the company understands that this new lawsuit concerns the right to sell seeds containing glufosinate resistance technology, which is part of Dow AgroSciences' highly-anticipated Enlist platform [weed control system].
"This new lawsuit would be the third case Bayer has filed against Dow AgroSciences in a little more than a year. Dow AgroSciences believes all three lawsuits are without merit, and it will aggressively defend itself against each of them. As a leading research-based agricultural company, Dow AgroSciences has developed a substantial intellectual property estate and has a history of innovation. Accordingly, the company has the utmost respect for intellectual property rights.
"Dow AgroSciences will do everything in its power to keep Bayer from interfering with its history of innovation, and to prevent Bayer from depriving American farmers of Enlist products. It is, indeed, unfortunate that Bayer has decided to pursue these meritless claims through litigation."