Syngenta Sues Willowood for Patent Infringement

Syngenta continues to protect its azoxystrobin fungicide products in the United States by demanding post-patent companies provide proof of their methods to make the AI so that it does not infringe on their process patents.

Syngenta Crop Protection filed a complaint against Willowood LLC, Willowood USA, Willowood Azoxystrobin LLC and Willowood Limited in U.S. District Court in North Carolina, alleging that Willowood violated various patented processes for making azoxystrobin.

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Syngenta also alleges that Willowood copied parts of Sygenta’s label for its Quadris Flowable Fungicide and submitted to the EPA “verbatim substantial portions” of the label for its Azoxy 2SC in the United States, according to court documents. Additionally Syngenta says Willowood’s AzoxyProp Xtra label was lifted from Syngenta’s Quilt Xcel Fungicide label.

The U.S. EPA approved Willowood’s registration of Azoxy 2SC on Jan. 6, 2014 under a formulator’s exemption that allowed a third-party data package to be used to show that its Azoxy 2SC products was substantially similar to Syngenta’s registered product.

According to court documents filed by Syngenta, Willowood refused to disclose its method for creating azoxystrobin when asked by Syngenta.

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In a prepared statement, Syngenta said: “The lawsuit seeks to permanently stop Willowood’s infringement of Syngenta’s intellectual property rights, to recover damages for compensation and obtain other equitable and monetary relief.”

Willowood USA responded in a statement to its customers in the United States: “Willowood wants to assure you that Syngenta’s allegations are completely unfounded and that Willowood will vigorously defend itself against Syngenta’s claims … We believe that our success helps explain why, among all the manufacturers of azoxystrobin products, Syngenta has exclusively targeted Willowood in making its baseless claims.”

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