Biotech giants Monsanto and DuPont signed a deal yesterday [Tuesday] to put to rest the long-standing 11 lawsuits between them over GM seeds.

The bitter dispute started in the early 1990s, early days for the biotech industry, when DuPont#;s subsidiary Pioneer Hi-Bred International, the largest seed company in the world, first used the genes produced by Monsanto to develop Roundup Ready soybeans and insect-resistant corn.

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Monsanto, a newcomer with its yet unproven GM crops, needed to interest Pioneer in order to get its genes into the most popular varieties of corn and soybeans. With this in mind, the company allowed Pioneer access to the genes in return for small payments and no royalties.

When the GM crops proved popular, this policy proved problematic for Monsanto, and sparked a long running battle for payment of royalties.

The out of court settlement made yesterday will allow Pioneer to keep selling Roundup Ready soybeans, but from now on it will have to pay a royalty to Monsanto for access to certain genes and technology.

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Pioneer meanwhile will gain licenses in exchange for the royalties, to give the company market access for Roundup Ready corn (put on sale by Monsanto) and another corn both companies are developing, which is resistant to rootworm.

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Howard L. Minigh, a group VP for agriculture and nutrition at DuPont, told the New York Times that the deal proved how “’intellectual property disputes in our industry can be resolved by ways other than long, drawn-out legal processes”.

The financial details of the settlement have not been disclosed, but company executives did reveal that no payments would be made for past damages.