Local berry producer, Driscoll’s Inc., has gone to court against another berry breeder and a scientist for what it claims is interference with strawberry breeding and using its strawberry varieties without permission.
Driscoll’s filed its complaint March 20 against California Berry Cultivars, Inc. and former UC Davis professor Douglas Shaw.
This is not the first strawberry lawsuit. In May 2017, a federal jury found CBC and Shaw infringed by using 11 of UC Davis’ patented strawberry varieties without the university’s permission. Attorney’s said that information from that case led to the most recent action.
During that trial, it was revealed that CBC had improperly used UC Davis’ and Driscoll’s proprietary strawberry varieties in its breeding program.
