Pa. Chemical Co. Says Patent Dispute Can’t Be Arbitrated

Law360 (June 10, 2021, 9:29 PM EDT) — Pennsylvania-based chemical company FMC Corp. is urging a federal court not to toss or force it to arbitrate its dispute with a Swiss Syngenta Corp. unit over an allegedly stolen herbicide formula, saying an arbitration clause in the pact inked by the two companies has expired.

FMC told the federal court in Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday that Syngenta Crop Protection AG’s motion for arbitration ignores the fact that a clause in their 2015 collaboration deal stating that patent disputes must be arbitrated only applied “during the term” of the agreement. Since the agreement expired in 2019, FMC’s claims are not…