Paul Swanson was quoted in an April 26 LA Times article titled “A Legal Conflict Brings a Sour Note to the Sweet History of California Strawberries.” The article discusses the history of lawsuits surrounding California strawberry varieties, and what potential impact the latest case, recently filed by Driscoll’s, could have on the industry.
“These patents have gotten a lot more valuable because they’ve reached past the commodity level,” Paul Swanson, a patent expert in Seattle, told me. “Driscoll’s has a huge plant patent portfolio, and it wants to make sure that what it has doesn’t become part of the public domain.”