Bayer CropScience accuses ex-employee of trade secret theft
A former scientist at Bayer CropScience shared confidential information with his new employer, which was used to develop commercial biopesticide products, according to a claim filed by the agricultural company.
In a lawsuit filed at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Monday, May 6, Bayer alleged that a fired employee had taken its trade secrets relating to media for growth of bacteria for agricultural compositions to Texas-based Tenfold Technologies (doing business as Agricen Sciences).
Both Tenfold Technologies and the former employee are named as defendants.
Some of the confidential information related to fermentation media used to prepare Bayer’s Serenade line of products, which are used as a fungicide in crop treatments internationally.
In March 2018, Tenfold Technologies filed an international patent application called “Methods and agricultural compositions for preventing or controlling plant diseases” and published as WO 2018/183381.
The ‘381 patent lists Tenfold Technologies as the applicant and Bayer’s ex-employee as an inventor. It relates to bacterial compositions for agricultural use and various media for growing the bacteria in the compositions.
“This application includes specific formulations for the growth media that Bayer has held as proprietary, confidential, and trade secret information relating to its biopesticide products, such as its Serenade line of fungicide products,” alleged the claim.
Bayer added that the level of specificity in the ‘381 application would have required access to written materials generated during the ex-employee’s time at Bayer.
The claim added: “Tenfold is complicit in this unlawful disclosure, including through use of the disclosed information in drafting and prosecuting the ‘381 application and in developing commercial biopesticide products that would compete with Bayer’s.”
Bayer is seeking monetary damages, exemplary damages and attorneys’ fees for willful and malicious misappropriation, injunctive relief, and an order declaring Bayer as the sole owner of any IP developed using Bayer’s trade secret information.
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