United States
October 27, 2006
AgResearch USA Limited
and Pennington Seed Inc.
announced a finalised agreement recently with four defendant
parties named in their patent lawsuit filed July 12, 2006 in
federal court in the Western District of Missouri, USA.
The principal defendant is Anderson Farms of Clinton, Missouri.
The lawsuit enforced Pennington Seed and AgResearch’s patent
rights to the MaxQ® technology. As part of settlement, the
defendant parties agreed to cease unauthorised seed production,
saving, replanting and sales of tall fescue seed containing the
MaxQ® technology. Damages were assessed in the amount of
$US150,000.
MaxQ® is a patented technology uniting a revolutionary non-toxic
endophyte with high quality pasture grass. The technology
enables livestock producers to increase profits per acre through
healthier and higher weight-gain livestock. MaxQ® eliminates
fescue toxicosis, a sickness that can affect cattle, horses and
other fescue-grazing livestock. The MaxQ® technology is backed
by a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee.
MaxQ® endophyte technology was developed by
AgResearch and
commercialised in collaboration with its subsidiary
Grasslanz Technology Ltd.
It is marketed in New Zealand and Australia as MaxP® by
PGG Wrightson Seeds Ltd.
Grasslanz Technology CEO John Caradus says the successful
prosecution will serve as a message to the farming community in
the USA.
“It is important that farmers are aware that there is
significant IP contained within MaxQ® and MaxP® tall fescue
seed. Grasslanz and its partners have put in a lot of work over
several years to bring this technology to market. Replanting the
seed amounts to intellectual property theft.”
In the USA, Pennington Seed and AgResearch have established an
educational program designed to fully assist farmers who wish to
implement the MaxQ® technology into their fields. As part of
this educational program, the terms of use for the technology
are set forth in detail.
Under the terms of the patent and the purchase agreement, buyers
of tall fescue seed containing the MaxQ® technology are
expressly prohibited from harvesting, saving, replanting,
selling, and otherwise transferring of any seed produced when
MaxQ® is planted and grown.
In Missouri and surrounding areas, Pennington may purchase high
quality seed harvested from fields of Jesup MaxQ® tall fescue by
select seed growers with the express pre-approval and licensure
of the technology. A harvest of this Jesup variety seed is
authorised only after the grower has signed a Seed Production
Agreement with Pennington Seed at its Greenfield, Missouri
facility and has identified the acreage and expected seed
yields.
Pennington Seed Inc. is a leading manufacturer and
distributor of lawn, garden, turf care, forage grasses, wildlife
and bird food products, in the USA. Pennington Seed is the
largest packager of grass seed in the world. Based in Madison,
Georgia, Pennington Seed was founded in 1945 by Brooks
Pennington Sr. Pennington Seed is today owned by Central Garden
& Pet (NASDAQ: CENT). |