Syngenta sues Seminis over patented watermelon claim

Syngenta's seedless watermelons are the subject of a patent infringement lawsuit filed against another Woodland plant breeder, Seminis.

Two Yolo County seed companies could go to court, after one filed a lawsuit against the other this week.

Syngenta Seeds LLC filed a complaint against Seminis Vegetable Seeds Inc., alleging patent infringement and infringement of plant variety certificates in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

The case concerns the companies' Woodland operations. Syngenta and Seminis’ parent company, Bayer, are both international companies, and among the biggest ag-tech companies in the world.

The claim is over a variety of watermelon. To grow seedless watermelons, growers plant a second type of watermelon alongside the seedless variety to produce flowers and pollinate the crop so watermelons will grow. In the past, this second variety of watermelon competed with the more valuable seedless melons for resources in the field.

Syngenta developed a variety of pollenizer watermelon that is designed to spread out in the field and produce a lot of blossoms, without competing for the seedless melons’ resources. The pollenizer variety produces small, grayish fruit that is easily destroyed in the field.

“Since 2000, Syngenta and its predecessors have spent substantial resources researching and ultimately developing watermelon pollenizer plants,” the suit says.

Syngenta has at least four patents on this method and subsequent varieties of this kind of melon. It also has at least two plant variety certificates protecting these varieties. The Plant Variety Protection Office, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, issues these certificates to protect the intellectual property of breeders of new plant varieties.

In the suit, Syngenta alleges that one of Seminis’ plant breeders purchased seeds for Syngenta’s Pollen Pro variety of watermelon from an online distributor, without disclosing that they worked for Seminis.

The suit claims that Seminis then used that sample to develop its own variety of pollenizer watermelon, called Wingman, which it continues to sell.

“Despite being aware of Syngenta’s intellectual property, Seminis has sold, and continues to sell, Wingman in the United States, willfully infringing Syngenta’s intellectual property rights and harming Syngenta’s business and commercial interests,” the suit says.

According to one of the exhibits attached to the lawsuit, Syngenta sent a letter about this issue to Seminis’ parent company in 2017, which at the time was Monsanto. Last year, German pharmaceuticals giant Bayer AG acquired Monsanto Co., and Seminis with it.

The suit seeks damages and an injunction against Seminis. The suit doesn't specify how much in damages Syngenta is seeking.

Representatives for Bayer said Seminis is reviewing the matter and said they would not comment on pending litigation.

Syngenta did not respond to a request for comment.