The FTC and 10 states sued pesticide manufacturers Syngenta Crop Protection and Corteva, Inc. two of the largest pesticide manufacturers operating in the United States. For allegedly paying distributors to block competitors from selling their cheaper generic products to farmers. The complaint alleges that these big pesticide firms run so-called “loyalty programs” in which distributors only get paid if they limit business with competing manufacturers. The complaint alleges that this reduced competition has allowed the defendants to inflate their prices and force American farmers to spend millions of dollars more for their products. The complaint seeks to shut down this illegal pay-to-block scheme and restore competition to affected markets. The complaint alleges that the two firms’ sought to artificially extend their patent monopolies. The patent on a new pesticide lasts for 20 years.  At the end of that term, generic versions typically enter the market, providing competition and reducing prices.  The complaint alleges that Syngenta and Cortevaset up “loyalty” programs in which they make payments to distributors—as long as the distributors keep their purchases of competing generic pesticides beneath a very low threshold. This increases prices for farmers and consumers and prevents innovation in the pesticide industry.  According to the complaint, Syngenta has monopoly and market power in the United States with respect to azoxystrobin, a fungicide; and mesotrione and metolachlor, both herbicides. Corteva, meanwhile, has monopoly and market power in the United States with respect to the herbicide rimsulfuron and the insecticide and nematicide oxamyl. Corteva also has market power with respect to the herbicide acetochlor. In January 2024, the court denied the companies’ motions to dismiss the suit, finding that the plaintiffs have adequately alleged that the loyalty programs “leverage the defendants’ monopolist status and the market’s substantial barriers to entry to exclude competition for the [active ingredients],”