Agribusiness titans Monsanto and DuPont have traded slurs after a lawsuit sparked open hostility between the two rivals in the struggle for dominance of the USA’s lucrative maize seed industry. The fracas started on Tuesday, when DuPont's Pioneer seed unit sued fellow seed giant Monsanto, claiming the company had infringed patents held by DuPont which help genetically modified corn seeds germinate. image expired

The two companies have a historic bitter rivalry, which has erupted into open enmity in the past. The embittered companies are currently locked in another court battle over a licensing agreement which turned bad. DuPont has accused Monsanto of uncompetitive business practices, and Monsanto has in turn accused DuPont of violating the terms of the licensing agreement.  

DuPont’s Pioneer, which filed its lawsuit in Iowa where the company is based, claims to own patents on a method "of enhancing the vigor of maize seeds" by defoliating the plant at a particular point after pollination but before harvest, and consequently on maize seeds possessed of such ‘enhanced vigor.’

DuPont claims Monsanto has used its protected methods for its own products and is seeking restitution from its rival as well as damages, although it does not state a specific amount in dollars. Pioneer also wants to see Monsanto forbidden from using the allegedly patented harvesting technique in future. Monsanto headhunted two of the Pioneer scientists who developed the protected methods, which has led Pioneer to accuse its competitor of "engaging in wilful and deliberate infringement".

Monsanto has dismissed DuPont’s lawsuit as "frivolous claims". The company retorted in a statement regarding Pioneer’s claims, "This filing appears to be another in a series of frivolous claims initiated by DuPont against our business and aimed at distracting us from our mission of investing in and delivering new product. We will defend our business against this latest attack."

The two agribusinesses started life as chemical companies. Both companies have attracted their share of criticism over pollution caused by their enterprises in the USA and elsewhere and their roles in developing weapons. Tensions between the two had appeared to ease since 2009, following the last exchange of lawsuits.