Business News
DuPont Files Lawsuit Against BASF to Protect Intellectual Property
Wednesday 03. June 2009 - On Monday, DuPont filed a lawsuit claiming BASF is infringing four patents related to biotechnology traits similar to those used in DuPonts proprietary Optimum GAT trait.
The patents listed in the lawsuit confer tolerance to an herbicide class with excellent environmental characteristics known as ALS inhibitors and pertain to certain methods for controlling weeds.
“As a market-driven science company, DuPont takes appropriate actions to protect our proprietary information for the benefit of our shareholders and customers,” said DuPont Group Vice President Jim Borel. “We respect valid intellectual property claims of others and expect them to do the same. At the same time, we have a responsibility to challenge patents that have no validity. It was only after efforts to seek clarity from BASF failed that we decided to take this action.”