Courts have ruled in favour of the fruit licensing company in four separate legal cases related to its table grape varieties
Italian courts have ruled in favour of Sun World International in four separate cases in recent months. In each case, the company took legal action against unlicensed growers for their unlawful production and sale of Sun World grape varieties.
Sun World said it relentlessly investigated, tracked, and pursued legal action against the infringing growers, demonstrating the company’s commitment to not only its intellectual property (IP), but also the interests of its licensed growers.
Four growers in Apulia and Basilicata were found to have unauthorised and unlawful plantings of Sun World’s proprietary varieties Sugrathirtyfive, Sugranineteen, Sugrathirteen, and Sugraone.
The breeder used evidence gathered by drone surveillance to convince an Italian court to issue an ex parte order for a court-appointed expert to confirm infringement.
One defendant was ordered to allow Sun World to conduct an audit of the defendants’ financial records. Another was barred from entering his own vineyard to prevent harvesting the infringing grapes. In the cases that the infringers refused to settle, courts ordered the defendants to pay Sun World’s court costs, attorney fees and damages.
Courts ordered vine removal by the defendants, and settlement agreements with Sun World also required removal of infringing vines. Sun World has more than 200 table grape patents and PVRs worldwide, and its varieties are licensed to growers in 22 countries.
Michael Stimson, Sun World’s general counsel and vice president of intellectual property, said the company works vigorously worldwide to enforce its intellectual property.
“We continually monitor table grape growing regions and table grapes in consumer markets around the globe for potential infringement cases. As a result, through private and court-ordered investigations, we identified Sun World’s proprietary vines in four fields owned by unlicensed growers and, after a thorough investigation, pursued ground-breaking litigation against them,” he commented.
“We make significant investments in the development of each of our unique and proprietary varieties, taking more than a decade and significant financial resources to develop a new variety, and we are pleased with the courts’ decisions to uphold our IP.”
Stimson said Sun World followed a ‘zero tolerance’ policy against infringement, pursuing each and every case it becomes aware of. So, while each of these infringing plantings were relatively small, the largest no more than 10ha, the company nonetheless pursued these cases to completion, through removal of the infringing plants.
“We hope these decisions send a clear message to any grower who infringes upon our IP: We will find you; we will pursue legal action against you, and we will prevail,” Stimson said.
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