Testing Times
On May 22, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the $66 billion mega merger of German chemical and pharma major Bayer AG and the US seed giant Monsanto. As the merged entity will have intellectual property rights (IPR) linked control, including patent protection, over more than 90 per cent of the genetically modified (GM) traits across crops that are licensed and marketed globally, the CCI approval came with some riders. One of these stipulations is known to be that Bayer, which is acquiring Monsanto, will have to grant non exclusive, royalty bearing licences to its digital farming products and platforms commercialised in India to avoid monopoly.
Complying with the CCI mandate could be the least of Bayer's worries at the moment. There are bigger challenges to overcome before the conglomerate and similar innovation intensive companies could hope to enjoy unbridled IPR protection in India. To start with, a Delhi High Court division bench has ruled that Monsanto is not entitled to a patent over the Bollgard II Bt cotton seed,
