Update: John Deere wins $16.3 million in patent lawsuit against Kinze, Ag Leader

Editor's note: This story was updated on November 20, 2023 with additional information from a patent attorney.

An Iowa jury awarded John Deere a total of $16.3 million in damages and royalties from Kinze Manufacturing and Ag Leader Technology on Oct. 30, stating the two companies infringed on patents for seeding methods owned by Deere and Co. and its subsidiary, John Deere Shared Services, Inc.

The lawsuit claimed Kinze’s True Speed and Ag Leader’s SureSpeed high speed planting systems infringed on U.S. patents 9,861,031, 10,729,063, and 8,813,663. Kinze and Ag Leader directly and indirectly infringed on the first two, but not the third, according to the jury. The jury did not find that the infringements were willful.

The companies will pay Deere $2.1 million in lost profits and another $14.2 million in reasonable royalties.

“While Kinze cannot comment on ongoing litigation, we can say that on Oct. 30, 2023, a jury in the Southern District of Iowa issued a verdict finding that the True Speed and SureSpeed systems infringe certain Deere & Co. patents,” says Jay Grimes, Kinze corporate counsel. “Kinze and Ag Leader strongly disagree with the verdict and intend to pursue their rights to challenge the jury’s verdict.” 

A message on Ag Leader's website says they "strongly disagree with the verdict, and we intend to pursue our right to challenge the jury’s verdict. Ag Leader will take all necessary steps to ensure our customers remain satisfied, and we will continue to support existing SureSpeed customers in the field."

Deere filed the initial lawsuit against Kinze and Ag Leader in 2020, and Kinze and Ag Leader filed a countersuit in 2021, seeking to invalidate the patents cited and claiming Deere uses its “market power to exclude its competitors from the planter market and deprive farmers of choice.”

Updates from patent attorney

The patents found to have been infringed were both filed on Feb. 2, 2009, and involve the use of a belt to match the rearward discharge speed of the singulated seeds to the forward travel speed of the planter, inhibiting bouncing of the seed from the seed trench while the tractor is moving at a high planting speed, says Todd Taylor, a patent attorney practicing in Avilla, Indiana. This technology is used in Deere's ExactEmerge planter systems, introduced in 2014.

Taylor says, based on the verdict, that Kinze and Ag Leader will likely have to stop manufacturing these products until they see what happens with their appeals. 

He adds that in theory, farmers using Kinze or Ag Leader equipment made with this technology are also infringing.

“Infringement constitutes making, selling, or using a product that incorporates the technology,” he says. 

High-speed planting technology

Kinze introduced the True Speed technology in 2020 for sale in 2021. According to their website, True Speed uses a high-speed meter and seed tube to provide accurate seed placement at up to 12 mph. The system was developed with support from Ag Leader Technology, which markets the system as SureSpeed. Both companies distributed the technology through their respective dealer networks.

SureSpeed is supported on a variety of planters, including Kinze 4000, Kinze 3000, John Deere Max Emerge 5, John Deere XP, John Deere XP Pro, John Deere Max Emerge Plus, John Deere Max Emerge 2, Case 1200, Harvest International, White 8000, and White 9000. True Speed is available on Kinze planter models 5900, 5700, 3665, 3605, 3205, 3145, and 3115.

Kinze did not answer questions on whether or not True Speed will still be available to farmers. Representatives from John Deere declined to comment on this story.