Deere & Co, Wirtgen America its subsidiary in the US has come to terms with Caterpillar (CAT), in the latest news as it won a case regarding road-building tech against the heavy-equipment producer for 12.9 million dollars, the companies claimed in the federal court of Delaware.
A Wirtgen and Caterpillar representative stated in a joint briefing that the two parties have reached an agreement on their issue and sought for the court to terminate the case. A spokesman for Deere declined to comment on the filing on Thursday, while representatives of Caterpillar also did not reply immediately to a request for comments and further details on the settlement.
In the 2017 lawsuit, Wirtgen claimed that the road-milling machinery manufactured by Caterpillar, which cut off the surface of the road for repaving, were in violation of a number of patents. Wirtgen’s patents are related to a process of ‘cold mill’, which is a means of restoring a damaged road.
In February, a jury found that Caterpillar had willfully infringed Wirtgen’s patents and assessed damages in the amount of $12.9 million. U.S. District Judge Joshua Wolson last month added almost $6.5 million to the award and enjoined sales of the offending machines after ruling that Caterpillar “took Wirtgen’s machines and maliciously carried on the infringement much beyond when it was supposed to cease.”
Wirtgen also put forward allegations against Caterpillar in the case concerning the patents regarding the machinery’s operation before the U.S. International Trade Commission. The Commission issued a prohibition against the introduction of the devices into the country in 2019, although in 2021, U. S. Customs and Border Protection permitted the entry of modified versions of the machines.
The Delaware case is Wirtgen America Inc v. Caterpillar Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:17-cv-00770.