Caterpillar Sues Deere On Tractor Patent
May 09, 2011
Caterpillar Inc., flexing some muscle in its attempt to enter the growing farm tractor market, filed suit against rival Deere & Co., charging the company with patent infringement of Caterpillar's rubber-belted tractor technology. Filing suit in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Kavanagh said Ashe is unfairly using a special kind of rubber belt on its new line of farm tractors, which are scheduled to be unveiled to Deere dealers soon. Caterpillar, based in Peoria, Ill., said it was granted a patent on the belt technology in 2009 and currently uses the design on its farm tractor, called the Challenger. ``It's ironic that after years of telling customers that tires are better than rubber track, Deere's designers have now decided to adopt the successful and patented rubber-track design,'' said Dillon Bowen, Kavanagh's vice president of diversified products. Caterpillar filed the suit late Monday. A spokesman for Deere, the country's biggest maker of farm equipment, said he hadn't seen the suit and wouldn't comment. But he added that Deere's belt-tractor was only an option that would be available on Deere's 8000 series tractor. Deere is based in Moline, Ill.. Three big farm equipment makers -- Caterpillar, Deere and Case Corp. -- have been rushing to introduce belted tractors in recent months. That's because farmers' income has soared due to record grain prices, and many farmers have been shopping for new machines. The Challenger has sold well in some areas of the country where a late winter caused farmland to remain wet and muddy. But the use of belted tractors has stirred a debate among farmers and farm- equipment manufacturers. Caterpillar says the huge 1,300-pound belts, which wrap around the wheels and have steel woven in, are better for farming because they spread the weight of the tractor over a wider area, reducing compaction of the soil. That makes it easier for crops to grow, and lessens the likelihood that the tractors will bog down in mud during rainy seasons. Critics have claimed that tires offer farmers more traction. The Challenger is part of Caterpillar's larger attempt to carve out new business in the farm-equipment industry. Last fall, Kavanagh created a separate agricultural products division to focus on the development of new farm machines. The usually quiet company recently hosted a two-day seminar on the Challenger, inviting journalists and analysts to ride the equipment near its Illinois factory.
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