GFA Advanced Systems will receive USD 4 million in compensation after a settlement was reached in a lawsuit involving the use of its licensed technology by land-based fish farm Local Ocean of Greenport, N.Y., the Israel-based company announced in a statement emailed to SeafoodSource on Tuesday.
Word of the settlement surfaced last week, but the terms of the settlement had not yet been disclosed.
Filed in a Tel Aviv court in May 2011, the suit involved the proprietary waste and water recycling system technology developed by G.F.A. Advanced Systems and used by Local Ocean. The suit claimed that Local Ocean Chairman Efraim Basson and The Sanit Group of Brooklyn, N.Y., violated their joint venture agreement with GFA.
According to GFA, the USD 4 million will be paid over several interest bearing installments and secured by a pledge over 49 percent of the holdings in the entity that holds and operates the fish farm. Also, Local Ocean has agreed not to use GFA’s licensed technology in any other fish farm it establishes.
The ruling terminated the joint venture formed by the two parties in 2009, under which the fish farm was established, and declared the memorandum of understanding agreed upon by the two parties in 2010 as not legally binding and void, according to GFA.
“This is an important milestone for Grow Fish Anywhere (GFA), which sends a clear message to the market,” said Dotan Bar Noy, the company’s CEO, in the statement. “Our unique know-how and technology has a significant value and we have and will continue to ensure that it is safe-guarded and protected. We are happy to leave this dispute behind us and move forward with our research and developments efforts and the implementation thereof in new future fish farms.”
