MONHEIM, Germany – Misuse of patent-protected products costs agriculture chemical companies an estimated $2.2 billion annually worldwide.
“This is a real strong threat to innovative companies like ours,” said Rudiger Scheitza, head of portfolio management with Bayer CropScience.
The company has established a small organization focused on preventing imitation products from taking away revenues from the products Bayer spends $726 million a year developing.
The problem is particularly rampant in places like India, where black market products displaying a slightly modified version of the Bayer name or logo and containing far less active ingredient are sold to unsuspecting farmers. In some cases it is only water.
However, it also happens in North America. Scheitza said the company is defending its intellectual property rights in two U.S. court cases and foresees more of the same legal action in countries where its products are under attack from illegal knock-offs.
“It will be a common activity for us in the future,” he said.
