The Indian Supreme Court (ISC) has overturned a previous ruling by Delhi's High Court (DHC) in which it stated that Bayer (formerly Monsanto) could not claim royalties on cotton varieties containing its insect resistant trait technology. In April 2018 the DHC ruled that Monsanto was not eligible to claim royalties on its GM technology in the country (see AgbioNews Apr 13, 2018). Monsanto subsequently appealed this decision (AgbioNews May 8, 2018) to the ISC which has ruled in the company's favour. During the duration of the proceedings, Monsanto was acquired by Bayer (AgbioNews Jun 7, 2018) in a deal worth $63 billion. The ISC's decision allows Bayer to collect royalties on cotton varieties containing its Bollgard II trait which protects the plant against attack from select lepidopteran insect pests. In addition, the ruling is seen as a positive move as it encourages development of new technology for the Indian market, as several R&D driven multinational companies are active in the country.