William Hablinski Architecture v. Amir Construction Inc., Euroconcepts Inc., Parvis Elihu, Daniel Elihu, Albert Elihu, Joseph Elihu, Hayadeh Elihu
Published: Aug. 13, 2005 | Result Date: Apr. 5, 2005 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: CV036365CAS Verdict – $5,880,060
Judge
Court
USDC Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Justin P. Karczag
(Encore Law Group LLP)
Roger N. Behle
(Foley, Bezek, Behle & Curtis LLP)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Vickie Gill
(technical)
Daniel Hebert
(technical)
Andy Spruill
(technical)
Eddie Weichman
(technical)
Fikret Yegul
(technical)
William Ackerman
(technical)
Facts
The plaintiff, William Hablinski Architecture (now known as Hablinski + Manion Architecture), an architectural design firm, agreed to design a home for Fred Sands's trust (The Unity Family Trust) in Bel-Air. The plaintiff hired Mehran Shahverdi to perform drafting work on the house. However, Shahverdi, unbeknownst to the plaintiff, began discussing plans for a joint venture with defendant Amir Construction Inc. and its owners, Parvis, Daniel, Albert, and Joseph Elihu, with whom Shahverdi has had a working relationship since 1985. The defendants and Shahverdi then designed and built a home in Beverly Hills that was almost identical to the home designed by the plaintiff in Bel-Air. The owner of record of this home was Joseph Elihu and his wife, Hayadeh Elihu. The Elihu residence and plans were smaller, but otherwise had almost identical floor plans, layout, massing, and exterior elevations. The homes were overall strikingly similar in appearance and design.
Damages
The plaintiff claimed that the stolen plans were worth $500,000. The plaintiff also claimed that the defendants realized a profit of $5 million for the copycat home. Finally, the plaintiff claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to its reputation and goodwill.
Result
The jury reached a verdict for the plaintiff and against all the defendants on the copyright infringement claims and conspiracy claim, and against all defendants (except Hayadeh Elihu) on the unfair competition/false advertising claim. It awarded the plaintiff $380,000 for the value of the stolen plans; $5 million for the infringer's profits in the copycat house; and $500,000 for false advertising.
Other Information
Shahverdi signed an arbitration provision as part of his employment agreement with the plaintiff and was not a party to the lawsuit. The plaintiff is presently in litigation against Shahverdi and those claims are being tried to an arbitrator.
Deliberation
2 days
Length
15 days
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