Court upheld Bayer's right to pursue its claims against Dow

Bayer CropScience announced that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) has upheld Bayer's right to pursue its claims against Dow AgroSciences (DAS) based upon DAS's unauthorized use of Bayer patents related to glufosinate-tolerance technology (Liberty Link).

The Federal Court denied Dow's motion to dismiss the pending lawsuit and ordered Dow to enter into arbitration with Bayer on the matter within 30 days and to provide the Court a "joint status report" every 120 days until the arbitration is concluded. The License Agreement between the parties includes a broad arbitration clause.

The Court issued a Stay of the pending EDVA lawsuit until the arbitration is concluded or the case is otherwise removed from the court docket.

The lawsuit asserts infringement of four Bayer patents and follows two previous claims involving seven Bayer glyphosate-tolerance technology patents and Bayer's 2,4-D herbicide tolerance patent. Those proceedings are currently underway before federal courts in Delaware and New Jersey.

Bayer's actions in defense of its glufosinate-tolerance, 2,4-D herbicide tolerance and glyphosate-tolerance technology patents and stacking of such technologies followed announcements made by Dow AgroSciences regarding its Enlist Weed Control System.