Industry News

Bayer CropScience and Nufarm settle patent infringement lawsuit

Bayer CropScience LP and Nufarm Americas Inc. jointly announced today that they have reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed by Bayer for infringement on its patent for the pesticide imidacloprid on fertilizer.

Nufarm has acknowledged that Bayer’s patent is valid and enforceable. Under the terms of the settlement, Nufarm and its business partners have been granted freedom to operate under the patented imidacloprid on fertilizer technology, including the ability to commercialize products incorporating the patented technology. Other terms of the settlement will remain confidential.

Both parties to the suit have withdrawn all claims and counterclaims in this matter.

The Bayer patent, which incorporates a novel mixture of imidacloprid on fertilizer, has revolutionized insect control on lawns and golf courses while providing significant application convenience to users.

Separately, Bayer CropScience states that it continues its legal action against Etigra LLC, asserting Etigra’s infringement of the same Bayer patent for imidacloprid on fertilizer.

SUNY Cobleskill to offer bachelors in turfgrass management

The New York State Education Department has approved the awarding of the state’s new bachelor’s degrees in Turfgrass Management at SUNY Cobleskill.  The bachelor of technology in turfgrass management:  golf turf management focuses on the production and maintenance of different specialty grasses for the greens, fairways and tees of golf courses. The bachelor of technology in turfgrass management:  sports turf management focuses on the cultivation and management of specialty grasses for sports fields and recreation areas.

According to Zhongchun "ZJ" Jiang, Ph.D., SUNY Cobleskill professor of turfgrass management, the fields, once closely related, have diverged into distinct fields with different cultural practices and emphases, and now have separate professional organizations.  SUNY Cobleskill has always offered turfgrass management courses, but the field was previously treated as a concentration under Plant Science. 

Enrollment for the bachelors of technology in turfgrass management at SUNY Cobleskill will begin with the spring 2008 semester. For more, visit http://www.cobleskill.edu/admissions.html.

Watertronics Inc. acquired by Lindsay Corp.

Watertronics Inc., manufacturer of electronically controlled pumping systems for the golf, landscape and municipal markets, has been acquired by Lindsay Corp., a provider of irrigation systems and infrastructure products. Watertronics will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Omaha-based Lindsay Corp.

The management team at Watertronics will remain largely intact with the exception of the retirement of company president Richard G. Reinders. As a result of Reinders’ retirement, his son, Rick G. Reinders, will assume the role of division president, while Frank (Chip) Carlson has been appointed chief operating officer.

"This is an exciting time for Watertronics," said Rick Reinders. "Although much of the way we’ve been doing business will stay the same, the acquisition positively impacts our engineering, manufacturing and capital resources, resulting in the strengthening of our marketplace position."