Deere Sues Iowa Competitors Kinze, Ag Leader for Infringing Patent on High-Speed Planter

Deere & Co. is trying to block two Iowa manufacturers from selling competing products that allow farmers to sow their fields faster, according to The Des Moines Register

The Quad Cities-based agricultural giant filed patent infringement lawsuits against Williamsburg-based Kinze Manufacturing and Ames-based Ag Leader in U.S. District Court on Dec. 4, alleging that the competitors’ new devices are too similar to a product Deere debuted seven years ago.

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The companies are competing in the nascent field of high-speed planters, which put seed in the ground twice as fast as most standard planters. Deere asked a judge to issue an injunction, potentially blocking Ag Leader and Kinze from selling their products.

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All three companies declined to comment. Kinze and Ag Leader have not filed answers to Deere’s complaint in court but said in a joint statement after the lawsuit was filed that they “deny all allegations of infringement.”

Continue reading at The Des Moines Register.

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