Monsanto legal cases Monsanto legal cases Monsanto has been involved in several high-profile lawsuits, as both plaintiff and defendant. It has been defendant in a number of lawsuits over health and environmental issues related to its products. Monsanto has also made frequent use of the courts to defend its patents, particularly in the area of agricultural biotechnology, as have other companies in the field, such as Dupont Pioneer and Syngenta. Monsanto was one of the first companies to apply the biotechnology industry business model to agriculture, using techniques developed by Genentech and other biotech drug companies in the late 1970s in California. In
Monsanto was symbolically burned. Monsanto has engaged in various public relations campaigns to improve its image and public perception of some of its products. These include developing a relationship with scientist Richard Doll with respect to Agent Orange. Other campaigns include the joint funding with other biotech companies for the website GMO Answers. In 2009 Monsanto was chosen as "Forbes" magazine's company of the year. In 2010 Swiss research firm Covalence rated Monsanto least ethical of 581 multinational corporations based on their EthicalQuote reputation tracking index which "aggregates thousands of positive and negative news items published by the media, companies, and