A trial involving Maine's Oakhurst Dairy and Monsanto, a multinational biotechnology company, will stay in Massachusetts rather than move to Maine, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled.

A trial involving Maine's Oakhurst Dairy and Monsanto, a multinational biotechnology company, will stay in Massachusetts rather than move to Maine, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled.

In a short written order, the judge said Monsanto chose to sue Oakhurst in Massachusetts over what it argues is the dairy's misleading advertising related to rBGH, a Monsanto product. Neither the dairy nor the state of Maine, which joined the lawsuit to support Oakhurst, showed enough hardship for a change in venue, the judge found.

"There's really no way to appeal, and we probably wouldn't spend time on that at this point," said Oakhurst attorney John Ciraldo. "I don't think it really impacts the case at all."

Ciraldo said the case appears ready to head to trial on Jan. 5 in Boston. St. Louis-based Monsanto Corp. sued Oakhurst in July, saying Oakhurst's claim is misleading. It demands that Oakhurst stop advertising that it doesn't use milk from hormone-treated cows. It also asks that the dairy stop putting labels reading "Our Farmers' Pledge: No Artificial Growth Hormones" on its milk jugs.