by Bob Walsh
University of California-Davis is the originator of a breeding program that half the strawberries in the formerly great state of California owe their existence to. The school has just settled a lawsuit with two former employees who bailed out and set up on their own.
The settlement says they must kick back the $2.5 million they have made thus far and must return some of the plants they have developed to the university. They do however get to keep others.
California cranks out almost $2 billion worth of strawberries per year, about 80% of the nations strawberry supply. About 50% of the seeds for these berries come from UC Davis breeding programs.
The two men, Douglas Shaw and Kirk Lawson, worked for Davis for about 20 years. They split from the university in 2014.
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