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News Release
MYCOGEN FILES MOTIONS TO SET ASIDE JURY VERDICT IN DELAWARE PATENT INFRINGEMENT SUIT
2/20/1998 WILMINGTON, Del. - Attorneys for Mycogen Corporation today filed motions in Federal District Court here, requesting that the court set aside a February 5, 1998, jury verdict that two patents held by Mycogen were not valid.
The patents were the basis for a patent infringement suit brought by Mycogen against three competitors. Mycogen contends that Bollgard® cotton, marketed by Monsanto Company and Delta & Pine Land Co., Monsanto's New Leaf® potato and YieldGard® hybrid seed corn, marketed by Monsanto and DeKalb Genetics, infringe Mycogen's patents, which cover Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene synthesis technology used to make plants insect-resistant.
"We believe that this verdict has a number of flaws and should be overturned," said Carl Eibl, Mycogen's president. "Our motions ask the judge to set the verdict aside and order a new trial."
Mycogen's attorneys have advised the company that the process of obtaining a ruling on those motions could take several months. Eibl said that regardless of the ultimate resolution of the Delaware litigation, Mycogen will continue to assert its extensive Bt technology patent rights to establish a proprietary position around plants and seeds with Bt-based insect resistance.
"The patent claims at issue in Delaware describe specific changes made in Bt gene sequences used to develop the products that Monsanto and its affiliates currently are selling," Eibl said. "They are a sub-set of broader claims contained in another patent that covers the process of making bacterial genes more plant-like. Those claims and our other Bt technology patents aren't affected by the outcome of the Delaware litigation."
The process patent is the basis of another infringement suit against Monsanto that Mycogen's attorneys expect to go to trial later this year in Federal District Court in San Diego.
On January 20, 1998, Mycogen received a patent that covers methods of producing insecticidal proteins using partial Bt genes as well as cells containing shortened Bt gene sequences. The company also holds dozens of U.S. and foreign patents for individual Bt genes and has extensive patent positions covering Bt gene modification technology in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other "first to file" jurisdictions.
Mycogen is a diversified agribusiness and biotechnology company that develops and markets seeds and value-added traits for genetically enhanced crops and provides crop protection products and services. Mycogen (Nasdaq: MYCO) is majority owned by Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW).
For more information about Mycogen, please call 1-888-SEE-MYCO (1-888-733-6926) or visit Mycogen's website at www.mycogen.com.
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