Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of plants patent dispute settled

From this post from Navigating the patent maze:

"In November 2004, I reported the conclusion of a long running dispute in the U.S. Patent Office on who first invented Agrobacterium-mediated transformation technology (previous post). A few weeks ago, a joint press release from Bayer CropScience, Max Planck Society, and Monsanto announced that the interference ended by settlement among these parties. Under the agreement, the organizations will cross-license their respective Agrobacterium-mediated transformation technologies; Bayer (the exclusive licensee of Max Planck's technology) and Monsanto will provide each other non-exclusive licenses related to R&D and sale of transgenic crops; Monsanto will give Max Planck a license in the U.S. for research purposes...

If the technology is not licensed to anyone else - neither of these companies is known to widely license technology - then they are able to effectively stifle other companies from entering the transgenic plant field. Agrobacterium is the most widely used method for transforming plants; there are very few other means of transformation, only bombardment (owned by Cornell and licensed to duPont) is frequently used. With luck new transformation technology developed at CAMBIA using non-Agrobacterium strains will break the stranglehold."