Houweling’s has settled its patent infringement lawsuit against Little Leaf Farms of Devens, Massachusetts. In the lawsuit, Houweling’s alleged that Little Leaf infringed Houweling’s U.S. Patent No. 8,707,617, titled “Greenhouse and Forced Greenhouse Climate Control System and Method.”
According to a news release, Little Leaf farms admitted that the asserted Houweling’s patent is valid and has agreed to pay Houweling’s a royalty for Little Leaf’s use of Houweling’s patented greenhouse technology.
Houweling’s said it has “developed many novel advancements in greenhouse technologies and has invested considerable time and resources into ensuring that Houweling’s remains on the forefront of greenhouse development and crop production. To this end, Houweling’s has obtained patent protection for its novel greenhouses and, air/gas distribution systems. Throughout the years, Houweling’s has continually enforced its patent rights against infringers attempting to misappropriate or otherwise “piggyback” on Houweling’s protected technology.”
Company chairman, Casey Houweling commented;
“The development of these proprietary technologies, comes with high risk and capital investment. Upon securing the patents and believing these technological advancements are significant to our industry, we made them available through a reasonable royalty structure. This provides an avenue for others to gain access to the technology, while providing an opportunity to recover a portion of the development costs,” said company chairman Casey Houweling.
“Houweling’s intends to continue to enforce its patent rights against any and all infringers, in both the United States of America, as well as in foreign jurisdictions such as Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Canada and Mexico. Houweling’s will also vigorously defend any challenges to its patents worldwide and will exhaust all avenues of appeal against such challenges,” the news release stated
Houweling’s Group is a greenhouse vegetable grower, propagator and marketer with operations in Delta, BC, Camarillo, California, Mona, Utah and Loveland, Colorado. A year-round grower, with over 200 acres of greenhouse farms, Houweling’s said it produces fresh and flavorful tomatoes and cucumbers sustainably.
