A 13-year court battle over an alleged patent infringement involving seeders has finally ended.
The Federal Court of Appeal last week upheld a lower court ruling from 2004 declaring that a seeder manufactured by Seed Hawk Inc. of Langbank, Sask., did not infringe on a patent held by Jim Halford, an Indian Head, Sask., farmer and businessperson.
It also found that, contrary to the lower court ruling, the original patent held by Halford was invalid in the first place.
“I’m very happy that we won and I’m very happy that it’s finally over,” said Pat Beaujot, president of Seed Hawk.
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The court ordered Halford to pay legal costs associated with both the original trial and the appeal. Beaujot said legal bills for the trial alone were more than $600,000, although he said it remains to be seen exactly how much in costs will be awarded.
The lawsuit was initiated by Halford and his company Vale Farms Ltd. in 1993. It went to trial in November 2000 and dragged on for more than two years, ending in February 2003.
The case involved a complaint by Halford that Seed Hawk used a seed delivery system designed and patented by him in the late 1980s on a machine Seed Hawk began manufacturing in 1992.
Halford said he was disappointed by the ruling but it wouldn’t threaten the company’s future.
“Our business outlook is better than it has been in years,” he said, thanks to a new seeder that employs new technology.
Halford said the main lesson learned from the case is that lawyers and judges live in “a different world” than farmers.
Beaujot said Seed Hawk made offers over the years to settle the case out of court, but they were rejected.
