An international patent dispute involving a cherry variety has kept returning to court in Washington State.
In 2024, the District Court for the Eastern District of Washington invalidated the patent for the Staccato cherry, a variety developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Summerland, in a summary judgment based on claims the cherry was being sold before the patent's critical date.
On March 12, 2025, the American district court overturned its 2024 decision and reinstated the U.S. patent for the Staccato cherry.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada was the plaintiff, while the defendants in the case were Van Well Nursery, Inc. and Monson Fruit Company, Inc., both Washington corporations, along with Gordon Goodwin and Sally Goodwin.
In the March 12 decision, the District Court stated that the defendants had excluded the first 10 rows in the Excel file they claimed proved they had sold the cherries prior to the patent date.
However, Agri-Food Canada found that based on trial testimony and the excluded rows, the full list of sales was for a different cherry variety developed in Summerland.
"It is undisputed that the defendants excluded the first 10 rows of Exhibit 38 that state the sales were actually of Sonata, an entirely different cherry, then falsely represented to the Court that Exhibit 38 was an accurate copy of the original spreadsheet," Chief United States District Judge Stanley Bastian stated. “It would be manifestly unjust to excuse this behaviour at this stage of the proceedings."
At the time, a press release from the Summerland Varieties Corp's general manager Sean Beirnes said the U.S. court decision was a positive one.
“We are very pleased to manage the license for a valid patent that can now be properly enforced,” he said.
He added that trust is important in the tree fruit industry.
“It is critically important that industry stakeholders respect intellectual property rights associated with protected varieties,” he said. “SVC will have zero tolerance for those who cheat.”
However, the cherry dispute is still continuing and has been back before the District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, with further rulings issued on April 2, April 22 and May 7.
The additional rulings rejected attempts by the defendants to overturn the overturning, and to claim Agri-Food Canada was beyond the statute of limitations for filing the patent lawsuit in the first place.
The Staccato cherry is a late-season cherry variety, developed in Summerland.
Around 80 per cent of the world’s cherry varieties have been developed at the Summerland Research and Development Centre.
According to statistics from the British Columbia provincial government, there were more than 2,000 hectares in all varieties of cherry production in the province in 2021, with the majority grown in the Okanagan.
The province accounts for 95 per cent of Canada’s sweet cherry production. The amount of land for growing cherries has been increasing in recent years.
The March 12 decision overturning the patent invalidation, ends by Judge Bastian determining that Agri-Food Canada was entitled to have the full evidence properly considered for determining the patent's validity.
