Two leading agribusinesses which have been locked in legal struggles have agreed to end their spat and enter into licensing agreements over genetically modified crops.

Monsanto and DuPont agreed to set aside pending lawsuits against one another on tuesday. The two companies are currently vying for dominance in the United States soybean market.

The World's largest seed company Monsanto recently scored a number of victories against DuPont, the country's largest chemical manufacturer, in court. A court in St Louis, home of Monsanto, ruled that DuPont had infringed Monsanto patents on soybeans last year.

As well as the patent infringement lawsuit, DuPont had accused Monsanto of using uncompetitive and monopolist business practices to stifle innovation in seed innovation.

Monsanto's Vice President Scott Partridge told Bloomberg agency that the two companies had reached a point where their "interests aligned" and that he was "pleased to have [DuPont] again as a customer". Dupont Pioneer president Paul Schickler expressed a desire to "Focus on the marketplace, and get away from the courtroom."

DuPont will begin selling seeds with Monsanto's latest patented GM traits and, in turn, will resume paying royalty fees and allow Monsanto access to some of its own patents. The new 'Roundup Ready 2' seeds are resistant to glyphosate, but also to other herbicides. They have been developed as fears over widespread 'superweeds' grow in the United States.  

Monsanto is expected to recoup $1.75 billion in royalties from DuPont as a result of the agreement, but will waive a $1 bn fine for patent infringement handed down by a Jury in Missouri last year.

The two companies have agreed to fight a ruling by District judge Justice Webber, who sanctioned DuPont for misleading a court over its right to use Monsanto's 'intellectual property.'