to the best of my limited knowledge, yes JD had the patent.Did John Deere have a patent on their balance shaft? They may have been using the original design patented by British inventor Frederick Lanchester in 1907. Mitsubishi substantially improved the design and got their own patent and started using in some of their engines in 1975.
One could of course also argue that the Stutz bearcat was the first...
Taking your kids to work day!
Great character actor. One eye looking at you; the other one looking for you. LOL