On January 24, 2025, a WilmerHale team led by Michael Summersgill secured another important victory for AGCO Corporation and Precision Planting LLC (together, “AGCO”) when the Federal Circuit denied Deere & Company’s appeal of a jury finding that AGCO’s seed-delivery products do not infringe Deere’s patents.

In 2018, Deere sued AGCO, alleging that AGCO’s SpeedTube and vSet2 products infringed a dozen Deere patents related to high-speed seed planting technology; Deere sought hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged damages, as well as injunctive relief.  In July 2022, following a four-day trial before Chief Judge Connolly of the District of Delaware, WilmerHale secured a win for AGCO when—after less than two hours of deliberations—the jury conclusively rejected Deere’s infringement allegations.  Chief Judge Connolly dismissed Deere’s post-trial arguments in a thorough, 65-page decision.

On appeal, Circuit Judges Prost, Taranto and Chen ruled across-the-board in AGCO’s favor, concluding that “AGCO presented ample evidence” to support the jury’s non-infringement verdict, and rejecting each of Deere’s appellate arguments.  This ruling marks a significant win for AGCO, reinforcing its position in the agricultural technology market and validating their innovative approach to seed planting technology.

The WilmerHale team representing AGCO included Michael Summersgill, Arthur Coviello, Richard O’Neill, Jordan Hirsch, Heath Brooks, Harry Hanson and Myles McDonagh.