Toro and Advanced Sensor Technology Resolve Wireless Soil Monitoring Dispute

BLOOMINGTON, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 28, 2009-- The Toro Company (NYSE: TTC) announced today that it has agreed to settle all of its outstanding litigation with Advanced Sensor Technology, Inc. The parties’ patent infringement, trade secret, false advertising and other claims and counter-claims were resolved without any admission of liability or wrongdoing, nor any licensing arrangement, by either party. No other terms of the confidential settlement were released.

Both companies will continue to compete in the field of soil sensing with their respective technologies, Toro’s Turf Guard® product and AST’s UgMO™ product, and they’ve agreed not to disparage one another’s product. Both companies agree that customers will see substantial benefits from measuring soil moisture, salinity and temperature to create healthier turf and manage their water usage with greater precision.

While Toro believes that its Turf Guard® product never infringed a patent that AST licensed, Philip Burkart, Toro’s Vice President, Irrigation businesses, said that Toro nevertheless agreed to make a modification to the Turf Guard® source code in order to address AST’s concerns and resolve the dispute. The modification does not impact Turf Guard®’s performance or functionality.

“We’ve long said that we respect the valid intellectual property rights of others,” said Burkart. “The litigation cast a cloud over wireless soil sensing technology in our industry, so we’re happy the issues are resolved and that our customers can continue to purchase the Turf Guard® system with complete confidence.”

About The Toro Company
The Toro Company (NYSE: TTC) is a leading worldwide provider of turf and landscape maintenance equipment, and precision irrigation systems. With sales of nearly $1.9 billion in fiscal 2008, Toro’s global presence extends to more than 140 countries through its reputation of world-class service, innovation and turf expertise. Since 1914, the company has built a tradition of excellence around a number of strong brands to help customers care for golf courses, sports fields, public green spaces, commercial and residential properties, and agricultural fields. More information is available at www.toro.com.

Source: The Toro Company

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Our Company

At The Toro Company, we take great pride in helping our customers enrich the beauty, productivity, and sustainability of the land. Founded in 1914, The Toro Company was built on a tradition of quality and caring relationships. Today, the company is a leading worldwide provider of innovative solutions for the outdoor environment including turf maintenance, snow and ice management, landscape, rental and specialty construction equipment, and irrigation and outdoor lighting solutions. Through a strong network of professional distributors, dealers and retailers in more than 125 countries, we proudly offer a wide range of products across a family of global brands to help golf courses, professional contractors, groundskeepers, agricultural growers, rental companies, government and educational institutions, and homeowners – in addition to many leading sports venues and historic sites around the world.