Different Flavors of Tortious Interference are "Tweedledum and Tweedledee"
Optics Planet, Inc. v. OpticSale, Inc., No. 09 C 7934, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jul. 14, 2010) (Shadur, Sen. J.).
The Court granted in part Plaintiff Optics Planet's Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. Initially, the Court noted that defendants' tortious interference with prospective business relationships and with prospective economic advantage were not separate counts, but at most separate theories of recovery for a single court, calling the claims "Tweedledum and Tweedledee."
But the claims, whether single or multiple counts did not survive the competitor's privilege. Defendants offered no evidence showing that plaintiff was doing anything except "feathering its own competitive nest". Defendants' attempted monopolization claims were also dismissed because there was no evidence that plaintiff did anything but compete, and there was no indication that plaintiff would or could acquire power over market pricing.
Finally, the Court dismissed defendant's accounting counterclaim to the extent the claim was based upon the dismissed counterclaims.
