Deere Sues Precision Planting, AGCO

Deere filed a lawsuit recently claiming two companies infringed on about a dozen Deere patents.

In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware, Deere claims Precision Planting and AGCO Corp. made or sold products, such as vSet seed meters and SpeedTube products, that infringe on its patents, according to a news release. AGCO acquired Precision Planting last fall.

Deere claims it suffered damages because of the infringement and will continue to suffer damages if it continues.

“The Deere patents relate to several of the unique and inventive aspects of John Deere planting equipment, many of which embodied in the state-of-the-art technology Deere has named ExactEmerge,” Deere spokesman Ken Golden said. “The inventions protected by Deere’s patents allow farmers to achieve accurate seed placement, uniform seed spacing and even crop emergence while planting at higher speeds than had been possible in the past.”

Deere said it has not licensed or authorized the use of its patents by Precision Planting or AGCO.

In a response from AGCO, Kelli Cook, public relations North America manager, said the allegations are “without merit” and will be “vigorously disputed.”

She also said that AGCO and Monsanto are “jointly cooperating on the legal defense.” Cook also noted this isn’t the first time Deere has sued Precision Planting and had begun discussing related claims in 2017 when the company was owned by Monsanto.

Deere had previously tried to buy Precision Planting, only to be blocked by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Sources: Courier Lee News Service, AgProfessional.com