Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) announced today that it would appeal a summary judgment ruling by the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del., finding that one of Monsanto’s patents related to glyphosate-tolerant genes was not properly enabled, and that Syngenta has not infringed two other Monsanto patents related to glyphosate-tolerant corn technology.

“We believe it is important to protect the technology that our scientists developed and we are disappointed with the court’s ruling,” said Charles Burson, executive vice president and general counsel for Monsanto.

“We believe the court’s ruling is wrong and we plan to appeal,” said Burson. “We remain confident that the achievements of Monsanto scientists will be established on appeal.”

The summary judgment ruling involved U.S. Patent Nos. 4,940,835; 5,538,880; and 6,013,863.

“Today, farmers have numerous choices for controlling weeds in their fields and we look forward to continuing to compete with our glyphosate-tolerant corn products in the field, and in continuing to earn the farmer’s business,” said Carl Casale, executive vice president of Monsanto. “We’ve anticipated that Syngenta will work from a non-Monsanto technology platform for some time and our financial projections are consistent with this assumption.”

Monsanto currently markets an improved version of the glyphosate-tolerant corn technology under the Roundup Ready Corn 2 brand name. Roundup Ready Corn 2 has supplanted Monsanto’s first glyphosate-tolerant corn technology, Roundup Ready Corn, which was at issue in this case. Roundup Ready Corn was first marketed in 1998.

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. 

Roundup Ready is registered trademarks owned by a Monsanto affiliated company.

Related release: Syngenta rights to GA21 in corn reaffirmed by U.S. Federal Court