Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | My memory agrees with this shortage line of thinking. I thought that Deere cut Kinze off becasue they were being too successful in using the Deere units.
Deere claimed that due to high demand they were not able to supply the units to Kinze any longer. Kinze started producing the parts and units themselves -essentially copying the Deere design. Deere sued and Kinze countersued.
I remember seeing some Kinze units that had a decal indicating that they were produced by the "Parts Shortage Division". I took this as a Slam towards Deere.
I was told that any patent rights that Deere might have had were overruled by the fact that they couldn't supply the demand (by their own admission).
It is my understanding that patent laws protect the developer to a point. You can't patent something and just sit on the patent - you need to actively attempt to produce the product. |
What is the history of the similarity of Kinze and Deere planters?
