NEWS QF THE WEEK BUSINESS
SYNGENTA FILES PATENT LAWSUITS Agchem firm charges several firms with violation of patents for corn, cotton DISPUTED Syngenta claims that its patents for insectresistant corn are being infringed by other U.S. producers.
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YNGENTA HAS FILED COM-
plaints in a federal district court in Delaware alleging that Monsanto, DeKalb Genetics, Pioneer HiBred, Delta & Pine Land, Dow AgroSciences, and
HOMELAND
Mycogen Seeds infringed its patents related to genetically modified corn and cotton. Syngenta maintains that all of the companies except Delta & Pine Land are infringing three of its patents related to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) genes that make corn resistant to pests. A second Syngenta suit alleges that Delta & Pine Land and Monsanto are infringing patents covering broadleaf plants such as cotton and soybeans through their Bollgard and Roundup Ready cotton. The suits come as Dow and Pioneer start rolling out Herculex I, an insect-resistant corn, for its
SECURITY
HOUSE CREATES NEW DEPARTMENT Senate is set to vote on a leaner version of the bill in September
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Boehlert 10
C&EN
OTING LARGELY ALONG PAR-
ty lines, the Republicandominated House has approved creation of a Department of Homeland Security that parallels the proposal President George W Bush sent to Congress onjune 6. The bill—which recognizes the importance of science and technology in combating terrorism— solidifies the largest reorganization of the federal government in more than 50 years by consolidating under one roof the functions of 22 existing agencies. The Senate Governmental Af-
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5,
2002
fairs Committee has sent to the full chamber its version of a homeland security department that is much leaner than the House-passed bill. A vote on the Senate bill is expected in September. Then the House and Senate bills will have to be reconciled by a conference committee, something that may not occur before the Sept. 11 anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The House bill would transfer to the new department some 170,000 employees from, among others, the Coast Guard, the Cus-
first growing season next year. The two companies developed the product together and are selling it independently They won EPA registration last year and approval in Japan. A Dow AgroSciences spokesman says company lawyers are still examining the complaint. "We haven't changed our plans to market Herculex I corn in the comingyears," he says. APioneer spokesman concurs. "Syngenta is threatening American corn and cotton farmers without attempting to resolve their dispute outside the courtroom," says David F. Snively Monsanto's assistant general counsel, adding that farmers have used such corn and cotton products for years. David Jones, head of plant science at Syngenta, counters that nothing short of comprehensive legal action will stop the ongoing violation of the firm's intellectual propertyrights."Our competitors are proceeding without regard to our patents," he says.-ALEX TU LL0
toms Service, the Secret Service, the border inspection functions of the Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, and the enforcement functions of the Immigration & Naturalization Service. The House bill retains Bush's proposal for an information analysis division that would receive intelligence reports from the CIA and the FBI, whereas the Senate bill has the intelligence division receiving raw data from those agencies. Largely at the instigation of Science Committee Chairman Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-N.Y), the House bill contains provisions that create the post of undersecretary for science and technology within the new department. This, Boehlert says, ensures that "one senior official in the new department will be responsible ... for the science and technology activities of the entire department."-LOIS EMBER HTTP://PUBS.ACS.ORG/CEN
