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| Vijay Gopalsamuthiram was named co-inventor on DKC’s first patent |
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| Stine-Haskell scientists and IP team includes (from left to right) David Heiser, Charlene Sternberg, James Bereznak, Amy Ding, Mary Ann Hanagan, Thomas Selby, Andrew Taggi, Jeffrey Long. Not pictured: John Bisaha. |
At the
inauguration of the DuPont Knowledge Center (DKC) in November 2008, Homi Bhedwar, director, issued a challenge to the R&D community in Hyderabad, India – to file its inaugural patent by the end of 2009.
This challenge was met in May 2009 when Vijay Gopalsamuthiram, a DuPont Crop Protection scientist at DKC, was named co-inventor with seven R&D colleagues at Stine-Haskell Research Center in Newark, Del. (U.S.). The co-inventors are Andrew Taggi, James Bereznak, John Bisaha, Amy Ding, Mary Ann Hanagan, Jeffrey Long and Thomas Selby.
"I am impressed with the caliber of scientists and engineers at DKC,” Homi said. “They are an enthusiastic and motivated team that looks for opportunities and overcomes tough technical challenges. I look forward to a stream of innovations from the One DuPont integrated science and engineering platform we have built at DKC."
The patent application covers fungicidally active compounds and more than 150,000 compounds are specifically disclosed. Numerous field trials are underway in Europe for cereals and specialty crops, and the team will begin testing on soybeans later this year in Brazil.
These compounds are part of a Crop Protection R&D project to identify a broad spectrum fungicide product that will protect cereals and specialty crops from damaging diseases. The total fungicide market value in cereals alone is estimated at more than $1 billion. The team is working to identify and design key product attributes to exceed farmer expectations and outperform current competitive products.
"This patent is one example of global collaboration and innovation which are important elements of the future vision of Crop Protection R&D,” said Julia Wheeler, R&D director, Crop Protection. “I congratulate the team on this milestone and look forward to continued successes in our global collaborations."
The patent preparation was led by Crop Protection Intellectual Property (IP) group members Charlene Sternberg, Crop Protection patent liaison, and David Heiser, Legal. The DKC IP team, particularly Patrali Banerjee, collaborated to prepare the patent.
