Syngenta takes BASF to court over U.S. herbicide patent dispute
The legal action comes as Syngenta also expands its biological crop and soil carbon business through a new partnership with Groundwork BioAg.
SWITZERLAND – Syngenta has filed a lawsuit against German chemical company BASF in the United States, claiming that BASF’s new corn herbicide, Ridivex, infringes a patent linked to Syngenta’s Storen herbicide.
According to Reuters, Syngenta filed the case in a Delaware court, arguing that Ridivex uses its patented chemical formula, which combines a weed control product with a crop safener that helps protect crops from damage.
The company said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could approve Ridivex within days. Syngenta has asked the court to stop BASF from launching the product in the U.S. market.
Syngenta also told the court that a market launch before the autumn planting season could affect sales of its Storen herbicide.
“The June–September distributor purchasing window is a critical inflection point that largely determines sales outcomes for the entire year,” Syngenta said in the lawsuit. “If a competing product enters the market during or before this distributor purchasing window, particularly one positioned as a direct alternative to Storen, it can displace Syngenta’s product before sales to growers even begin.”
The lawsuit marks another key development for the crop protection company as competition grows in the agricultural inputs market. The outcome could affect how both companies sell herbicides in the United States during the coming planting season.
In a separate development, Syngenta announced a strategic partnership with Groundwork BioAg to expand mycorrhiza based biological products and soil carbon solutions in Latin America and Europe before extending the offer to other markets.
Under the agreement, Syngenta will sell the products under its own brand, while Groundwork BioAg will manage manufacturing, supply, digital tools and the carbon credit program. The companies said the products will support corn, soybean, cereal and sunflower production while helping farmers improve nutrient and water uptake and earn income through carbon credits.
“The model we’ve built with Groundwork BioAg goes beyond farming carbon. It builds resilience, restores soil health, and accumulates long term carbon stocks at a rapid pace, while generating carbon credits from which farmers directly benefit. We see this as a natural progression of what carbon programs can achieve. This new offering fits within Syngenta’s sustainability goal of supporting farmers to produce higher yields while lowering impact on the environment,” said Petra Laux, Chief Sustainability Officer of Syngenta Group.
Groundwork BioAg Chief Executive Officer Alon Werber said the partnership brings together the strengths of both companies.
“By combining Syngenta’s market access with our proven mycorrhizal capabilities, we are positioning mycorrhizal fungi as both a valuable agronomic input and a significant pathway for agricultural climate mitigation through our end to end carbon program,” Werber said.
Sign up to HERE receive our email newsletters with the latest news and insights from Africa and around the world, and follow us on our WhatsApp channel for updates.
