Confidential
Settlement – $395,471Mediator
Court
USDC Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Barbara C. Luna
(technical)
Facts
Plaintiff and defendant were competitors selling a line of products to commercial and retail vendors. The plaintiff claimed that defendant circulated certain misinformation about the plaintiff's products and further claimed that defendant failed to obtain independent verification for its claims that its products were superior to plaintiff. A federal Lanham Act case ensued which resulted in a stipulated preliminary injunction enjoining the particular promotional materials circulated by defendant, as well as any other false or misleading statements about the plaintiff's products. Upon the entry of the injunction, the plaintiff issued a press release. The defendant then counterclaimed that the circulation of said press release itself constituted an act of unfair competition against the defendant. The plaintiff then moved for summary judgment to dismiss the counterclaims concerning the press release, which motion was granted by the Federal Court. Subsequently, the plaintiff amended its complaint to allege that defendant was engaged in improper pricing activity violating the Federal Robinson-Patman and California Unfair Practices Acts. The plaintiff brought claims under º43(a) of the Lanham Act and also for trade libel, intentional interference with economic relations, false advertising, unfair competition and violation of the Robinson-Patman and California Unfair Practices Acts for discriminatory pricing. The defendant counterclaimed for trade libel, false and misleading advertising and unfair competition.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff offered to settle for $450,000 and at mediation, was willingness to accept $400,000. Up until the reported settlement, the defendant's highest previous offer to settle was $305,000.
Damages
The plaintiff claimed $600,000 in damages.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately one year and five months after the case was filed. A mediation was held before Joel Goldman resulting in a narrowing of the position of the parties, but no settlement.
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