On March 12, 2025, the District Court for the Eastern District of Washington reversed its previous order invalidating the U.S. plant patent related to the Staccato cherry, which is owned by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (“AAFC”). This marks another legal victory for AAFC and follows the Court’s recent ruling that the so-called “Glory” cherry is actually the Staccato cherry. As a result, AAFC is now free to pursue its claim that the propagation, distribution and sale of “Glory” trees or cherries infringes the Staccato patent in its long-running legal action with three U.S.-based defendants: Gordon Goodwin, a Washington State orchardist who claimed to have discovered the “Glory” tree and patented it as his own; Van Well Nursery, Inc., a U.S. nursery that improperly transferred a Staccato cherry tree to Mr. Goodwin and then grew and sold “Glory” trees; and Monson Fruit Company, a U.S. grower, packer, and seller of “Glory” cherries. 

The Court said that it committed “clear error in granting summary judgment” on the issue of Staccato patent invalidity. In support of their motion for summary judgment, the defendants had submitted an Excel spreadsheet purporting to demonstrate sales of Staccato cherries before AAFC filed its Staccato patent application, but the defendants excluded 10 rows of data which, together with other evidence, demonstrated that the sales were of Sonata cherries and not Staccato cherries. 

“It is undisputed that the defendants excluded the first 10 rows of [the spreadsheet] that stated the sales were actually of Sonata, an entirely different cherry, then falsely represented to the Court that [the spreadsheet] was an accurate copy of the original spreadsheet,” said the Court. “It would be manifestly unjust to excuse this behaviour at this stage of the proceedings.” 

As the holder of the global master license for Staccato cherries, Summerland Varieties Corp. (“SVC”) general manager, Sean Beirnes, said, “We are very pleased to manage the license for a valid patent that can now be properly enforced.” He added: “The global tree fruit industry is built on trust. It is critically important that industry stakeholders respect intellectual property rights associated with protected varieties. SVC will have zero tolerance for those who cheat.” 

Source:  Summerland Varieties Corporation March 19, 2025 news release