August 2, 2012 - A federal jury in St. Louis awarded Monsanto Co. $1 billion based on its verdict that DuPont willfully infringed a Monsanto patent on herbicide-resistant seeds.
In the trial, which began July 9, Monsanto accused DuPont of infringing the patent that covers Monsanto's Roundup Ready seeds - seeds that are genetically modified to survive exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide. By pairing the Monsanto transgenic trait with a trait of its own, DuPont developed its own Roundup-resistant soybean seeds that it called Optimum GAT.
Monsanto was awarded $1 billion in damages - an award DuPont claims is unjustified because it "never sold a single Optimum GAT seed and has no plans to do so in the future," according to Thomas L. Sager, DuPont's general counsel.
DuPont countersued Monsanto, alleging anticompetitive practices. That trial is scheduled for next year.