April 9, 2010 - BASF SE, the world's largest chemical manufacturer, filed suit in U.S. District Court in North Carolina against two competitors over patent infringement of the company's fipronil insecticide, which is marketed as Termidor.
The defendants are the U.S. subsidiary of Israel-based Makhteshim Agan and a privately-held company called Cheminova. The lawsuit accuses both companies of preparing to sell generic versions of the Termidor insecticide.
BASF said that Bayer CropScience, which retained some patent rights to fipronil after BASF bought the business in 2003, joined BASF in the lawsuits.