Patented strawberries?! A plant researcher and respected breeder, Douglas Shaw, from California sued his old employer, University of California, Davis, for destroying hundreds of plants and locking some of them in a freezer. He claimed this wiped out years of his research and deprived the world of a better strawberry. He sought $45 million for the lost research. UC Davis then countersued him and another professor and plant biologist, Kirk Larson, for taking some of the school’s patented strawberry plants and seeds, when they retired in 2014, for breeding to develop their own varieties for their company, California Berry Cultivars.
California is one of the world’s top strawberry producers and the leading strawberry growing state. Shaw was the head of the university’s breeding program for more than two decades. Most of the strawberries grown in California are developed from plants by Shaw and Larson. They developed 24 varieties of strawberries that were resistant to pests and diseases, more durable during travel to grocery stores across the country, and even capable of growth during the shorter daylight hours of the spring and fall seasons.
UC Davis won this legal battle, after a federal court jury decided the two former professors had infringed on their strawberry patents. The judge also declared that the school ensure the professors stop “using UC’s patented plants in violation of UC patent law” and return the plants that belong to the university. Shaw and Larson had obtained patents on the plants, but gave the patents to UC, which is required of faculty members.
Written by: Teresa Nguyen
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