Kubota Corp., the nation's top maker of agricultural machinery, said Wednesday it has won a U.S. patent lawsuit filed by Deere and Co. over lawn and garden tractors.
Kubota said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on July 17 affirmed a jury verdict and district court judgment rejecting Deere's claims that Kubota's suspension mechanism infringed on one of its patents.
Deere, the world's largest farm equipment maker, has filed no appeal against the decision, Kubota said.
The legal battle dates back to March 31, 1999, when Deere filed a lawsuit against Kubota and its U.S. subsidiary, Kubota Tractor Corp., claiming that the implement suspension mechanisms of Kubota's lawn and garden tractors infringed on one of its patents.
In April 2002, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois ruled in favor of Kubota, with Deere filing an appeal at the court of appeals in September 2002.
"Kubota's developments of technology for its products are advanced and the jury and federal court clearly recognized the validity of Kubota's arguments based on this fact," Kubota said in a statement.