The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington on March 12 reversed a previous order invalidating a plant patent related to Staccato cherries, says Summerland Varieties Corp., which manages the intellectual property rights of fruit breeders.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, a department of the Canadian government, owns the intellectual property rights to Staccato cherry.
The court had ruled that the Glory cherry is actually the Staccato cherry, and as a result, AAFC is now free to pursue its claim that the propagation, distribution and sale of Glory trees or cherries infringes the Staccato patent, according to a news release.
AAFC has had long-running legal action with three U.S.-based defendants: Gordon Goodwin, a Washington State orchardist who claimed to have discovered the Glory tree and patented it as his own; Van Well Nursery Inc., a U.S. nursery that transferred a Staccato cherry tree to Goodwin and then grew and sold Glory trees; and Monson Fruit Co., a U.S. grower, packer, and seller of Glory cherries, the release said.
Summerland Varieties said the court said that it committed a “clear error in granting summary judgment” on the issue of Staccato patent invalidity. In support of their motion for summary judgment, the defendants had submitted an Excel spreadsheet purporting to demonstrate sales of Staccato cherries before AAFC filed its Staccato patent application, but the defendants excluded 10 rows of data which, together with other evidence, demonstrated that the sales were of Sonata cherries and not Staccato cherries, the release said.
“We are very pleased to manage the license for a valid patent that can now be properly enforced,” said Sean Beirnes, general manager for Summerland Varieties. “The global tree fruit industry is built on trust. It is critically important that industry stakeholders respect intellectual property rights associated with protected varieties. SVC will have zero tolerance for those who cheat.”
Summerland Varieties said Stemilt Growers is the sole authorized U.S. packer and marketer of Staccato cherries.
