Agri News, MN
05-29-07
Business news and notes
ISU professors file suit against Monsanto
DES MOINES -- Two Iowa State University professors have filed a lawsuit
claiming Monsanto Co. infringed on their patent on a low-acid soybean.
The lawsuit claims that the St. Louis-based company began their own soybean
program based on the low-acid bean invented at Iowa State without "license or
authority from" the university and "now licenses Iowa State's technology to
others."
The lawsuit said that Iowa State research foundation professors Walter Fehr
and Earl Hammond have been awarded several U.S. patents related to
soybeans with low linolenic acid. After the patents were issued, Monsanto began
marketing the soybeans.
Low linolenic acid is associated with lower trans fat levels in soybean oil, making
it healthier.
A telephone message left for a Monsanto spokeswoman was not immediately
returned.