Illegal Actions to Steal Proprietary Technology Trigger Lawsuit Against Inari

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — To protect its intellectual property, Corteva (NYSE: CTVA) today filed suit against Inari Agriculture, Inc. and Inari Agriculture NV. As noted in the complaint, the lawsuit “…seeks to prevent Inari from continuing its brazen efforts to steal Corteva’s groundbreaking work.” Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Inari 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 is filing the suit in recognition of the fact that such theft will, if left unchecked, set a dangerous precedent for the industry: agricultural innovations take decades of research and testing and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment to bring to market. Corteva alone invests nearly $4 million every single day on research and development. Investments of time and effort are equally substantial: for example, a single crop protection product takes an average of 13 years to reach market, a biotech trait takes almost 16 years and a new seed product can take seven years. 

“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.”

Every year, advances in technology help farmers increase yields and protect crops from devastating weeds and pests. Investments in innovation, including those made by Corteva, have helped American farmers, despite the historic storms, floods, droughts and heat waves of recent years, to produce 300% more per acre today than they did 70 years ago.

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

About Corteva Agriscience
Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) is a global pure-play agriculture company that combines industry-leading innovation, high-touch customer engagement and operational execution to profitably deliver solutions for the world’s most pressing agriculture challenges. Corteva generates advantaged market preference through its unique distribution strategy, together with its balanced and globally diverse mix of seed, crop protection, and digital products and services. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and a technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the company is committed to maximizing productivity for farmers, while working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. More information can be found at www.corteva.com.

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Cautionary Statement on Forward-looking Statements 

This release contains certain estimates and forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and may be identified by their use of words like “plans,” “will,” “can,” “believes,” or other words of similar meaning. All statements that address expectations about the future, including statements about Corteva’s research and development strategy are forward-looking statements. Corteva disclaims and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, except as required by applicable law. A detailed discussion of some of the significant risks and uncertainties which may cause results and events to differ materially from such forward-looking statements or other estimates is included in the “Risk Factors” section of Corteva’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as modified by subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. 

SOURCE Corteva, Inc.