News Release

INDIANAPOLIS — Corteva Agriscience filed suit Wednesday, Sept. 27, against Inari Agriculture Inc. and Inari Agriculture NV over alleged patent infringement of genetically engineered seeds.

The lawsuit alleges that Inari, based in Cambridge, Mass., deliberately used a third-party agent to obtain protected Corteva seeds, illegally exported the seeds out of the United States, made slight genetic modifications of the biotech traits and is seeking U.S. patents for those modified traits.

Corteva “seeks to prevent Inari from continuing its brazen efforts to steal Corteva’s groundbreaking work,” the complaint states.

“Companies like ours are willing to make billions of dollars of investments in the future of agriculture not only because we want to contribute to the world around us, but also because we know that if our product is effective and serves farmers well, we can recoup our investment — and reinvest in the next game-changer,” said Sam Eathington, Corteva’s chief technology and digital officer. “Theft of proprietary technology hurts not only our company, but also, ultimately, our nation’s farmers.”

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.