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Litigation

Arkansas Business Litigation Blog

Arkansas business law and 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals developments in intellectual property (patent, trademark, copyright, trade secrets and covenants not to compete).
By H. William Allen et al.

Post Frequency: 10.8/day

Last Entry: December 31, 2009 at 16:54:02

Class Certification Affirmed on Second Appeal

Posted on December 02, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed class certification in Teris, LLC v. Chandler, No. 08-692 (11/13/08). This case stems from a mandatory evacuation following an explosion and fire at the Teris facility. The original class certification was reversed and remanded because it contained two different class definitions...

When is an Arbitration Award not an Award at all?

Posted on November 26, 2008
A strange result regarding arbitrations occurred in COKeM Int'l, Ltd. v. Riverdeep, Inc., 2008 WL 4417323 (D. Minn. 9/24/08). COKeM distributed Riverdeep software pursuant to a licensing agreement. The parties had a dispute and filed various claims against each other...

Lawsuit Involving Mitch Mustain Ends in Anticlimatic Fashion

Posted on November 25, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court issued two opinions in Terry v. White, the lawsuit involving Mitch Mustain (most recently posted here 8/21/07). In Case No. 07-1096, the court dismissed the appeal as moot because John White has resigned as chancellor of the University of Arkansas...

Arkansas Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Filed Over Bad Boy Name

Posted on September 17, 2008
An Arkansas trademark infringement complaint was recently filed. Bad Boy Bad Boy, Inc. v. Bad Boy Enterprises, LLC, No. 08-050 (E.D. Ark., filed 9/12/08). Bad Boy Inc. sells lawnmowers, while Bad Boy Enterprises sells all terrain vehicles that are primarily used for hunting and related outdoor travel...

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First-Filed Rule Keeps Interesting Intellectual Property Case in Arkansas

Posted on September 09, 2008
The Eastern District of Arkansas denied a motion to dismiss or transfer in Agri-Process Innovations, Inc. v. Greenline Industries, LLC, 2008 WL 4126909 (E.D. Ark. 9/4/08). Agri-Process Innovations (API) designs and sells biodiesel plants. They worked on several projects with Greenline Industries, but after a falling out, API filed a lawsuit in Arkansas state court...

CBS Files Suit For Use of NFL Player Statistics in Fantasy Football

Posted on September 05, 2008
It's deja vu all over again in the Eighth Circuit to determine what intellectual property rights professional sports players have in their statistics. This time, CBS has filed a declaratory judgment against the NFL Players Association. See CBS Interactive Inc...

District Court Within Eighth Circuit Finds That Sponsored Link Advertising is Use in Commerce

Posted on August 28, 2008
The District Court of Minnesota has determined that keyword advertising is "use in commerce" for purposes of trademark infringement. Hysitron Inc. v. MTS Systems Corp., 2008 WL 3161969 (D. Minn. 8/1/08). MTS purchased the term "hysitron" to generate a sponsored link through Google, and Hysitron filed suit...

Arkansas Copyright Case Will Proceed; Motion to Dismiss Denied

Posted on August 27, 2008
Defendant's motion to dismiss was denied in Ellis v. Black, 2008 WL 3539524 (W.D. Ark. 8/11/08)(previously posted 6/2/08).This is a copyright infringement case based on plaintiff's Relocation Guide Mountain Home, Arkansas. Black moved to dismiss claiming the work lacked the requisite originality for copyright protection...

Cristal Loses Trademark Infringement Case Because of Laches

Posted on August 26, 2008
The District Court of Minnesota granted summary judgment based on laces in Roederer v. J. Garcia Carrion, S.A., 2008 WL 2901609 (D. Minn. 7/23/08). Roederer, which produces the famous Cristal champagne, filed suit for trademark infringement and dilution based on the defendants' selling Cristalino wine...

Rotoworks Wins Substantial Judgment in Arkansas Trademark Case

Posted on August 21, 2008
On several occasions, we have posted about Rotoworks Int'l Ltd. v. Grassworks USA, LLC (most recently posted here 11/21/07). The case has concluded in a very favorable judgment for Rotoworks.The jury awarded a total of $578,545.66 for trademark infringement...

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas Holds Stranded Airline Passenger Has Tort Claims Under State Law

Posted on July 30, 2008
In Ray v. American Airlines, Inc., 2008 WL 2323923 (June 2, 2008), the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Judge Robert Dawson, held that an airline passenger who was allegedly confined against her will on the plane, under "deplorable conditions" while the plane waited on the tarmac for approximately 11 hours, has claims under state law for the torts of false imprisonment, outrage, and negligence...

Arkansas Supreme Court Rejects Eastern District's Prempro Decision; Affirms Certification of Nationwide Class Action

Posted on June 30, 2008
In a powerful example of Arkansas's "liberalized" class-action procedure, the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed Miller County Circuit Court Judge James Scott Hudson's certification of a nationwide product-liability class action. General Motors Corporation v...

Arkansas Court of Appeals Upholds Dismissal of Breach of Sales Contract Based On Forum Selection Clause; Counterclaim for Equitable Value of Use of Property Did Not Waive Clause

Posted on June 30, 2008
The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed Sebastian County Circuit Judge James O. Cox's dismissal based on a forum-selection clause in New Life Beauty Center, Inc.'s v. Palomar Medical Technologies, LLC. New Life sued Palomar for breach of a sales contract, apparently medical equipment...

Variances in State Laws Have no Effect on Arkansas Class Action Certification

Posted on June 20, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court handed out a big decision on Arkansas class action law: General Motors Corp. v. Bryant, No. 07-437 (6/19/08). The claim is that General Motors sold trucks and SUVs with a defective parking brake system. The class involves 4 million consumers in all 50 states bringing claims for breach of express warranty, implied warranty, and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act...

Microsoft Files Arkansas Trademark and Copyright Infringement Case

Posted on June 11, 2008
Microsoft has filed a lawsuit alleging trademark infringement and copyright infringement. See Microsoft Corp. v. Delta Computer Experts, LLC, No. 08-0168 (E.D. Ark., filed 6/9/08). According to the complaint, defendants distributed unauthorized copies of Microsoft software like Word and Power Point...

Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act Cannot Apply to the Practice of Law

Posted on June 06, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed dismissal in Preston v. Stoops, No. 07-805 (6/5/08). Stoops filed a lawsuit on behalf of Preston in Pulaski County. The case was dismissed because Stoops, an Oklahoma attorney, was not licensed to practice in Arkansas...

Summary Judgment Reversed in Another MBNA America Case

Posted on June 05, 2008
This time the case is Helton v. MBNA America Bank, N.A., No. 07-759 (6/4/08), another MBNA America arbitration case that follows Danner v. MBNA, (previously posted 4/27/07), MBNA v. Blanks (previously posted 9/19/07) and MBNA v. Gilbert (previously posted 10/31/07)...

Arkansas Has Jurisdiction Over Virginia Resident

Posted on June 05, 2008
The Arkansas Court of Appeals reversed dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction in Roberts v. Bendos, No. 07-903 (6/4/08). Bendos lives in Virginia; she hired Roberts to pursue a wrongful death action on behalf of her sister's estate in Saline County...

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in Baseball Statistics Right of Publicity Case

Posted on June 03, 2008
We previously posted (10/16/07) the Eighth Circuit's decision in C.B.C Distribution and Marketing, Inc. v. MLB Advanced Media, L.P., holding that use of baseball players' names and statistics in fantasy games did not violate the players' rights of publicity...

Mountain Home Relocation Guide Subject of Arkansas Copyright Lawsuit

Posted on June 02, 2008
A copyright infringement lawsuit has been filed over a relocation guide. Ellis v. Black, No. 08-3025 (W.D. Ark., filed 5/30/08). According to the complaint, Ellis owns the copyright to Relocation Guide Mountain Home, Arkansas. Ellis temporarily gave Black permission to use the guide, but Black has continued to use the guide...

Benefit Resource Fails to Get Preliminary Injunction for Trade Secret Misappropriation and False Advertising

Posted on June 02, 2008
The District Court of Minnesota denied a preliminary injunction based on trade secret misappropriation and false advertising in Benefit Resource, Inc. v. Apprize Technology Solutions, Inc., 2008 WL 2080977 (D. Minn. 5/15/08). BRI owns a software product called UBenefit...

Insurer Cannot Recover Attorney's Fees Under a Unilateral Reservation of Rights

Posted on June 01, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court accepted certification of a question from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in Medical Liability Mut. Ins. Co. v. Alan Curtis Enterprises, Inc., No. 07-991 (5/29/08). The question is whether an insurer, once it has received judgment it has no duty to defend the insured, may the insurer recover attorney's fees in defending the lawsuit based solely on its reservation of rights? The supreme court noted the majority rule would allow the insurer to recover attorney's fees...

Rule 11 Sanctions Imposed for Frivolous Motion to Set Aside Judgment

Posted on May 30, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the granting of Rule 11 sanctions in Reeve v. Carroll County, No. 07-1239 (5/29/08). During a hearing on a motion to dismiss, the parties reached settlement. They read the terms of the settlement into the record, and no one objected...

Severance Pay to Dr. Roy Brooks is not an Illegal Exaction

Posted on May 30, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment in Gray v. Mitchell, No. 07-858 (5/29/08). This case involves the much-publicized termination of Dr. Roy Brooks, former superintendent of the Little Rock School District. As part of the termination, the school board payed Dr...

CDI Contractors Wins $40,000 Attorney's Fees Defending Contract Claim Against Sub-Contractor

Posted on May 21, 2008
The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed an award of attorney's fees in Meyer v. CDI Contractors, LLC, No. 07- (5/21/08). CDI hired Meyer as a subcontractor to perform earthwork a project for the Church at Rock Creek. After CDI canceled the contract, Meyer filed suit for fraudulent inducement to contract...

Arkansas Attorney's Fee Statute Does Not Apply to Declaratory Action, but Plaintiff Can Get Costs

Posted on May 15, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court reversed a grant of attorney's fees in Hanners v. Giant Oil Co. of Arkansas, Inc., 07-1314 (5/15/08) (previously posted 3/21/07). Giant Oil filed a declaratory action to decide the parties' rights under a contract. There were no claims for damages...

Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act Case Dismissed From Federal Court

Posted on May 13, 2008
The Western District of Arkansas dismissed a case based on the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act ("ADTPA") in Shimoda-Atlantic, Inc. v. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., 2008 WL 2003160 (W.D. Ark. 5/8/08). Shimoda-Atlantic brought this case against FINRA (formerly NASD) claiming violations of the ADTPA for fraudulent securities registrations...

Arkansas Trademark Infringement Case Dismissed for Lack of Jurisdiction

Posted on May 08, 2008
The Western District of Arkansas dismissed a trademark case for lack of jurisdiction in Flexible Staffing Services, Inc. v. Integro Employment Services, Inc., 2008 WL 1928827 (W.D. Ark. 4/29/08) (previously posted 1/23/08). Integro filed an Arkansas state trademark case against one of FSS's affiliates in Northwest Arkansas...

Eighth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Securities Fraud Claim Against Merrill Lynch

Posted on May 07, 2008
The Eighth Circuit affirmed dismissal of claims based on the Arkansas Securities Act and fraud in Benton v. Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., No. 07-2224 (5/5/08). In 2001 and 2002, David Howell fraudulently obtained money from various investors...

Class Certification Affirmed in Arkansas Class Action Against ChartOne

Posted on May 02, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed class action certification in ChartOne, Inc. v. Raglon, No. 07-940 (4/24/08). ChartOne provides copying services of medical records for medical providers in Arkansas. Access to medical records for legal proceedings is controlled by Ark...

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