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Monsanto Technology LLC v. Cargill: a matter of construction

Nature Biotechnology volume 26, pages 289–291 (2008)Cite this article

For the first time, a genetically modified plant patent is litigated in the United Kingdom's High Court.

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References

  1. Monsanto Technology LLC v. Cargill International SA and Cargill plc (2007) EWHC 2257 (Pat.).

  2. Monsanto applied to amend the patent a few weeks before the trial to restrict its scope only to the commercial embodiment of the invention.

  3. Monsanto used the term “Class II” to describe those enzymes that could be identified through homology testing with other EPSPS enzymes as being part of its invention.

  4. This application was made via a “revalidation” route.

  5. These two sequences corresponded to the CP4 and PG2982 EPSPS enzyme amino acid sequences, respectively.

  6. See Novartis AG v. Ivax Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd. (2007) EWCA Civ. 971.

  7. See also Kirin-Amgen v. Hoechst (2004) UKHL 46.

  8. Infringement was therefore claimed under section 60(1)(c) of the UK Patents Act 1977 as amended.

  9. See Pioneer v. Warner (1997) RPC 759.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Cohen and Gareth Morgan are patent lawyers at Taylor Wessing LLP, Carmelite, 50 Victoria Embankment, Blackfriars, London EC4Y 0DX, United Kingdom.,

    Simon Cohen & Gareth Morgan

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  1. Simon Cohen
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  2. Gareth Morgan
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Competing interests

The authors are employed by Taylor Wessing LLP, which acted for Cargill in defending Monsanto's claim for patent infringement.

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Cohen, S., Morgan, G. Monsanto Technology LLC v. Cargill: a matter of construction. Nat Biotechnol 26, 289–291 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0308-289

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0308-289

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