The California Court of Appeals (San Diego, CA) has dismissed a $174.9 million jury verdict against Monsanto, now part of Pharmacia (Peapack, NJ), in a patent dispute with ag-bio rival Mycogen, now owned by Dow Chemical (Midland, MI). The 7-year-old dispute involves Monsanto's genes that make crops resistant to its Roundup herbicide. Monsanto licensed them to Lubrizol (Wickliffe, OH) in 1989, and when Mycogen purchased a controlling interest in Lubrizol in 1993, it demanded access to the genes. Monsanto refused and Mycogen sued. Monsanto eventually turned over the genes, but Mycogen then filed another lawsuit, arguing that the delay caused loss of profits. A California jury awarded Mycogen $174.9 million in March 1998, but a three-judge panel has now ruled that Mycogen shouldn't have received any money because it had sued once before. Dow Chemical will appeal the ruling.