Court Confirms DuPont Owns Soybean Marker Technology

Avatar for Matt Hopkins By Scott C. Lucas|11 March 2007

The US District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in Des Moines issued a judgment holding that Pioneer patents 5,491,081; 6,192,967; and 6,538,175 were valid and had been infringed by GAAB. The patents are for the process that uses molecular markers to select soybean varieties resistant to soybean cyst nematode.

Pioneer has held intellectual property rights for its soybean markers since 1996. In addition to soybean cyst nematode resistance, the company holds intellectual property rights for the marker-assisted selection process to select soybean varieties with brown stem rot resistance and other traits.

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