Defense of Coal Companies

Bessie Berry v. Cyprus, 989 F.2d 498, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and Weddington v. Cyprus, Kentucky Court of Appeals. Successfully defended a series of cases involving claims that coal companies trespassed and wrongfully removed coal from 24,000 acres of property in eastern Kentucky. Successfully defended cases on appeal.

Unfair Competition/Trade Secrets Litigation

Greif, Inc. v. MacDonald, et al., U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Case No. 3:06-CV-312-H. Co-lead trial counsel for the plaintiff in this case against a competitor, alleging common law unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, among other claims. After obtaining a temporary injunction for the plaintiff and successfully defending the defendants’ motion to dismiss, the parties reached a settlement.

Defense of Lanham Act Claims

Rare Breed Distilling v. Jim Beam Brands Co., U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Case No. 3:11-CV-292-H. Lead trial counsel for the defendant in this case in which the plaintiff alleged trademark infringement and unfair competition under the Lanham Act. In response, the defense filed counterclaims and sought injunctive relief.

Defense of Fiduciaries in ERISA/ESOP Litigation

Hilda L. Solis, Secretary of the Department of Labor, v. Mattingly, et al., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Case No. 09-CV-00207 WOB. Lead trial counsel for five of the six main defendants in this high-profile, high-stakes litigation. The Department of Labor claimed that the defendants breached numerous fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) in connection with 7 ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) stock transactions totaling over $80 Million over a 4 year period. After nearly two years of aggressive litigation, Doug Barr successfully guided our clients to an agreed resolution of the claims.

Complex, Global Litigation Involving Failure of Patented Technologies

AGC Flat Glass North America, Inc. v. Pilkington Group Limited and Saint Gobain Ceramics and Plastics, Inc., Madison (County, Kentucky) Circuit Court, Case No. 05-CI-656. Lead trial counsel for the plaintiff. AGC took a license to certain patented technology that promised to dramatically reduce NOx emissions from gas-fired float glass furnaces. AGC used the technology in its Richmond, Kentucky plant and, within a short period of time, began to experience catastrophic failure of the internal ceramic material in its furnace. AGC successfully overcame a motion to compel arbitration that would have effectively ended AGC’s chances of recovery and successfully defended that result on appeal to the Kentucky Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. After several more years of hard-fought litigation in the U.S. and Europe, and on the eve of trial, we helped our client negotiate a favorable settlement.

Patent Inventorship and Trade Secret Defense

JBS United, Inc. v. Thorn BioScience, LLC, et al., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Case No. 07-CV-1241. Lead trial counsel in the successful defense of this hotly contested, patent inventorship and trade secret litigation in which a competitor sued our clients for, among other things, failing to name the competitor as a co-inventor on a patent covering revolutionary and potentially lucrative biotechnology. The result of the litigation allowed our client to protect its patent rights and to continue to pursue products based upon the patent.

Breach of Non-Competition and Confidentiality Agreements

iEntry, Inc. v. B2B NETWORK SYSTEMS, LLC, et al., Fayette Circuit Court, Case No. 10-CI-2061. Lead trial counsel for the plaintiff in this case involving allegations of breach of employee non-competition agreements, breach of confidentiality agreements and other business torts. The plaintiff obtained judgment in an amount in excess of $1.6 Million.

Summary Judgment – Parent Company Immune from Workers’ Compensation Claim

Travis, et al. v. Alliance Coal, LLC, et al., Fayette Circuit Court, Case No. 11-CI-2155, and Falk, et al. v. Alliance Coal, LLC, et al., Fayette Circuit Court, Case No. 11-CI-5433. Lead trial counsel for the defense in these two cases. In each case, the plaintiffs claim that a parent company of the decedents’ employer is liable in tort for the decedents’ deaths. In each case, the trial court granted summary judgment dismissing the parent company because the parent company is immune from liability pursuant to the workers’ compensation exclusivity clause in KRS 342.610. The parent company carries the workers’ compensation risk for the subsidiary/employer and, thus, is immune. The issue is one of first impression in Kentucky and the two cases have been consolidated for appeal to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

Unfair Competition, Negligent & Intentional Misrepresentation

Successfully represented client in claims for unfair competition and intentional and negligent misrepresentation against competitor companies. The claims involved complex issues relating to a patented air pollution control technology and governmental regulations relating to the same. A favorable settlement was reached with each of the defendants resulting in a multi-million dollar recovery for our client.

Patent Review & Analysis

SKO regularly represents clients in the artificial turf surfaces industry regarding the review and analysis of patents in that industry. This representation involves performing detailed analyses and providing advice about whether our clients’ and their competitors’ products are covered by the claims of various patents in the industry, as well as negotiating agreements with the owners of several of those patents.

Patent Infringement

Fire King v. Tidel Engineering, U.S. District Court for Northern District of Texas 2009. Lead trial counsel for the plaintiff in patent infringement case.

Reversal of a Default Judgment

Krowtoh II v. ExCelsius Int’l Ltd., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, May 19, 2009. Lead trial counsel for a German company, against whom a default judgment had been entered. Successfully obtained a reversal of the default judgment on appeal to the Sixth Circuit and later negotiated a successful settlement for our client.

Breach of Contract

Langley v. Prudential Mortgage Capital, U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Kentucky, 2007, U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27710. Lead trial counsel for the plaintiff in business dispute involving alleged breach of contract in financing agreement.

Defense of Patent Infringement in Artificial Racetrack Surfaces

Michael W. Dickinson v. Keeneland Association, U.S. District Court, District of Maryland 2005, and Martin Collins Surfaces and Footings v. Michael W. Dickinson, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky. Lead trial counsel for the defendants in this case involving claims of patent infringement in connection with construction of artificial surface for Thoroughbred horse racing. Successfully defended our clients and successfully negotiated settlement/license between the parties.

MCSF v. Equestrian Surfaces, U.S. District Court for Middle District of California. Lead trial counsel for the plaintiff in this case involving claims of patent infringement in connection with artificial track surface at several California Thoroughbred horse racing tracks. We successfully obtained settlement involving license arrangements.

Defense of Patent Infringement, Unfair Competition and Lanham Act Claims against Artificial Turf Manufacturer

FieldTurf, Inc. v. Turf USA, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Case No. 04-CV-505. Lead trial counsel for the defendant. Our client was sued for patent infringement and unfair competition under the Lanham Act by a highly aggressive competitor. After filing counterclaims against the plaintiff and engaging in intense discovery and motion practice, SKO successfully negotiated a settlement for our client.

FieldTurf v. Southwest Recreational Industries, Inc., 235 F.Supp.2d 708 (E.D. Ky. 2002), and FieldTurf v. Southwest Recreational Industries, Inc., 357 F.3d 1266 (Fed. Cir. 2004) U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92224. Lead trial counsel for the defendant in this complex business dispute between two competing manufacturers of artificial turf. The plaintiff claimed patent infringement, unlawful monopolization and attempted monopolization under federal antitrust laws, Lanham Act (false advertising) violations, and other business torts. The District Court granted summary judgment to the defendant on all claims and, further, awarded the defendants $4.3 Million in attorney fees and costs for its defense. On appeal, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit went further, holding that the plaintiff lacked standing to assert its patent infringement claims in the first place and remanded to the District Court with instructions to dismiss for that reason. While further appeals were pending, the parties reached a settlement favorable to the defendant.

Additional Published Cases

• UMWA v. Cyprus Mountain Coals Corp., 171 L.R.R.M. 2512 (6th Cir. 2002)
• Combs v. Ret. Plan for Hourly Employees of RAG AM Coal, 42 Fed. Appx. 776
• 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 16411 (6th Cir. 2002)
• UMWA v. Cyprus Mountain Coals Corp., 130 F.Supp.2d 873 (E.D. Ky. 2001)
• Mayo v. Owen Healthcare, Inc., 200 U.S. App. LEXIS 22257 (6th Cir. 2000)
• Saylor v. Parker Seal Co., 975 F.2d 252
• Cyprus Mountain Coal v. Brewer, 828 S.W.2d 642