BASEL, Switzerland, and FRANKFURT, Germany - A U.S. patent granted to Bayer AG that would affect U.S. sales of certain Syngenta products has generated litigation and confusion over the property rights of two of the companies’ insecticides - Syngenta’s Thiamethoxam and Bayer’s Imidacloprid.
Thiamethoxam is in the neonicotinoid class and is the active ingredient in Syngenta’s agricultural seed treatment products Adage and Helix and also in two of Syngenta’s products currently in development - Meridian for lawn and golf applications and Flagship for ornamental applications.
Imidacloprid is the active ingredient in Bayer’s MERIT insecticide, which is a broad spectrum, systemic insecticide used on turf and ornamentals.
The confusion stems around patent No. 6,232,309 granted May 15, 2001, to Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer that would prevent U.S. sales of the Thiamethoxam insecticide developed by its Basel, Switzerland-based rival Syngenta.
The patent announcement was immediately followed by a lawsuit from Syngenta’s Crop Protection unit against Bayer seeking a declaratory judgment that the Bayer patent is invalid. Syngenta said the Bayer patent was invalid because it covers the chemical compound Thiamethoxam, which had been invented by Syngenta scientists and is patented in the U.S. According to Ken Gordon, Syngenta external communications manager, the company received a U.S. patent for the use of Thiamethoxam as an insecticide in February 2000 and a patent on the seed treatment uses of Thiamethoxam in December 1998.
"Syngenta is confident that its actions in manufacturing and selling Thiamethoxam in the U.S. do not infringe any valid and enforceable patents owned or controlled by Bayer. Syngenta will vigorously defend its right to continue marketing its products based on the patented compound," Syngenta said in a statement.
However, Bayer said the Syngenta patent covered insecticidal crop protection agents and embraced the active ingredient Thiamethoxam, which it said was developed in direct competition with Bayer's Imidacloprid pesticide.
"This is a successful step to stop the activities of … Syngenta infringing Bayer's intellectual property rights," Bayer said in a statement.
The author is Internet Editor of Lawn & Landscape Online.