Bayer Brazil responds to cotton seeds patent litigation

 

The Bollgard II patent litigation prompted the postponement of the release of the Bollgard III RR Flex technology for cotton seeds, which was scheduled for the 2019/20 crop, as  confirmed by the president of Bayer Crop Science division in Brazil, Gerhard Bohne.

 

“If the farmer himself, via his associations, is suing Bayer for patenting, we conclude that the farmer doesn't want innovation or doesn't want to pay for innovation, and Bayer's reaction is not to invest in innovation. We are waiting for what will come out of these processes. We will do controlled areas, but we are not launching this product this year,” said Bohne.

 

The decision comes in the wake of the judicialization proposed by Ampa (Mato Grosso Association of Cotton Producers). Under the federal court case, the Bollgard II RR Flex GM patent has been filed for an annulment on the grounds that “there is no relevant innovation” in the technology, but only a combination of Bollgard's second generation with Roundup Ready, glyphosate tolerant.

 

“Every company that invests in something needs a return; for that there is an intellectual patent. It takes you a long time to bring technology to the market, both biotechnology and pesticides, on average, 10 years, with an investment of 200 million to 300 million euros. We will continue with all our pre-launch activities, which are the 2019/20 and 2020/21 harvests. We are not reducing our efforts on the Intacta 2 Xtend prerelease. There are no plans to change yet,” concluded Bohne.