You are Fernando López Aguilar, co-founder and chief executive of AgroTech Honduras. Eleven days ago, a Costa Rican start-up was granted a patent on the very thing your team has spent two years building. On Friday 30 January 2026, your management committee expects to hear what you will do with that project.
The situation
AgroTech sells sensors and software that help coffee, cocoa, palm and pineapple growers in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala use less water and fertiliser. In 2025 it billed USD 4.2 million, with 65 staff and 280 clients, and spent USD 600,000 on three projects. The most advanced, TERRA, a soil analyser using visible and near-infrared light, is 70% complete, costs USD 200,000 a year, and its prototype is due in the second quarter. Customers in Copán already have a date.
AgroSense Technologies' patent is valid in the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica; its reach in Honduras is unclear. Even so, your legal adviser, Ricardo Estrada, puts at 70% the chance that a court would find TERRA infringing. A lawsuit would cost USD 200,000 to 400,000 in lawyers, and a loss USD 1 to 5 million in damages, plus an order to stop selling. AgroSense, which has no presence in Honduras and is looking for partners in Central America, has said it would license for USD 50,000 upfront and a 20% royalty on sales.
Your team is split. Carlos Mendoza, your partner and head of sales, wants to launch on time: he thinks the patent may not reach Honduras. Sofía Paz, head of engineering, proposes redesigning the method to steer clear of it, for USD 100,000 more and a six-month delay. The finance director would rather close TERRA and move its money to the other two projects.