Preemption

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Vaughn v. Kelly, No. 06 C 6427, 2007 WL 804694 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 13, 2007) (Manning, J.).

Judge Manning denied plaintiff Vaughn’s motion to remand his case to state court, but gave plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint.  Vaughn sued defendant R. Kelly ("Kelly") in Illinois state court alleging breach of contract, fraud…

RRK Holding Co. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., No. 04 C 3944, 2007 WL 495254 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 14, 2007) (Coar, J.).

Judge Coar denied defendant summary judgment on plaintiff’s trade secret and breach of contract (nondisclosure agreement) claims. The Court also granted defendant summary judgment on plaintiff’s unjust enrichment claim holding that because it was based upon the trade secret misappropriation allegations it was preempted by the Illinois Trade Secret Act (“ITSA”). Plaintiff alleged that, pursuant to a nondisclosure agreement, it disclosed to defendant its plans for its “combination tool” which consisted of a rotary saw, also called a spiral saw, which could be converted into a plunge router. But after negotiations broke down over price, defendant allegedly disclosed the idea to its Canadian subsidiary, which then allegedly disclosed the idea to another party, Choon Nang Electrical Appliance Manufacturing Ltd. (“Choon Nang”), that obtained a British design patent on the combination tool and produced it for defendant. Continue Reading Conflicting Testimony Creates Questions of Fact in Trade Secrets Case

QSRSoft, Inc. v. Restaurant Tech., Inc., No. 06 C 2734, 2006 WL 3196928 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 2, 2006) (Der-Yeghiayan, J.).

In this trade secret and copyright dispute, Judge Der-Yeghiayan granted the individual defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s conversion claim because it was preempted by plaintiff’s Illinois Trade Secrets Act claim.  The Court, however, denied the remainder of the motion.  The remainder of the challenged the sufficiency of the pleadings generally, as well as each count specifically.  The individual defendants argued that each of the counts was not sufficiently plead because plaintiff failed to specifically identify each defendant by name, instead they were collectively referred to in the allegations as "defendants."  The Court held that the general references to the "defendants" were more than sufficient to put defendants on notice of the alleged acts.Continue Reading Defendants Do Not Necessarily Need to Be Individually Identified Throughout a Complaint

Conditioned Ocular Enhancement, Inc. v. Bonaventura, 05 C 3153, 2006 WL 2982140 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 17, 2006) (Zagel, J.).

Judge Zagel held that Illinois’s absolute litigation privilege, which protects communications leading up to a litigation, did not protect a patentholder’s cease and desist letters because, in addition to federal preemption issues, the Illinois privilege is limited to defamation and false light claims.  Plaintiff alleged that defendant was practicing its patented vision training services.  In addition to filing suit, plaintiff also sent certain of defendant’s customers cease and desist letters warning that defendant was unlawfully using plaintiff’s patented vision training methods.  Defendant filed several Lanham Act and tortious interference counterclaims alleging that plaintiff’s cease and desist letters were sent in bad faith.Continue Reading Absolute Litigation Privilege Does Not Protect Patent Litigants

Richmond v. National Inst. of Certified Estate Planners, No. 06 C 1032, 2006 WL 2375454 (N. D. Ill. Aug. 15, 2006) (Manning, J.).

This is a trademark action regarding defendants’ use of the term "certified estate planner" ("CEP").  In addition to trademark claims, plaintiff also brought claims for civil conspiracy, conversion and trespass to chattel.  Plaintiff alleged that defendants’ use of the CEP mark constituted conversion and trespass to chattel.  Plaintiff also alleged that the individual defendants engaged in civil conspiracy by taking the CEP mark for the benefit of NICEP and for their own individual uses.Continue Reading A Trademark Claim By Any Other Name is Still a Trademark Claim