Monsanto Awarded $1 billion Against DuPont Subsidiary (MON; DD)

From the Des Moines Register's Green Fields blog:

A federal jury said Wednesday night that DuPont and its Iowa-based Pioneer subsidiary infringed on a Monsanto patent and awarded St. Louis-based Monsanto $1 billion in damages.

The trial was an outgrowth of a 2009 lawsuit in which Monsanto accused Pioneer, now known as DuPont Pioneer, of improperly combining Monsanto’s Roundup Ready technology with Pioneer’s Optimum traits in Pioneer’s soybean seeds.

DuPont said it will appeal.

Pioneer, which paid licensing fees to Monsanto for use of the Roundup Ready technology, had contended it was in compliance with the licensing agreement signed in 2001....MORE