Patents and Trademark Disputes
Benjamin Holt aggressively defended his patents and was quick to sue anyone he felt might infringing on his rights. In June 1899, he claimed that the Haines-Houser's tractors used certain devices for which Holt held the trademark. Holt sent all farmers who owned Haines-Houser tractors in Yolo County, California, a letter containing a demand that they stop using the competitor's harvesters or face a lawsuit. In the same month he sued William W. Nelson, George W. Bailey, Henry K. Heiken, Hugh A. Logan, William Sullivan and three other Sullivans for infringement of his patents for "traveling threshers and combined harvesters." The defendants successfully filed a demurrer, getting the suit dismissed 16 months later. Competitors latched onto Holt's litigious nature and warned farmers considering buying his equipment that they might be prosecuted for patent infringement.
Read more about this topic: Holt Manufacturing Company