John H. Choi & Associates LLC (the "Firm") successfully defended two defendants in Green Energy Source, LLC v. Professional Building Systems, Inc., et al., 15-cv-07890 (D.N.J.) (the "Lawsuit").
In the Lawsuit, the plaintiff filed a complaint against six defendants alleging that the defendants misappropriated certain architectural drawings owned by the plaintiff and claimed: (i) copyright infringement; (ii) violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; (iii) unjust enrichment/restitution; and (iv) fraud under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
In response, the Firm, on behalf of its clients, filed a motion to dismiss the copyright infringement, unjust enrichment/restitution and fraud claims, and also moved to strike the plaintiff's claim for statutory damages for copyright infringement.
The Firm argued that: the copyright claim was barred because the plaintiff did not have a registered copyright; the unjust enrichment/restitution claim was preempted by the copyright claim; the fraud claim was not pled with the particularity required by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; the plaintiff lacked standing to bring the fraud claim; and statutory damages were not available because the plaintiff failed to register the asserted copyright within the requisite period of time provided by the Copyright Act.
As part of the plaintiff's response to the motion to dismiss, the plaintiff conceded to the dismissal of the unjust enrichment/restitution, fraud and statutory damages claims.
The Firm, on behalf of its clients, also filed a cross-claim against an upstream co-defendant for: (i) breach of warranty against infringement; (ii) fraud in connection with the sale of merchandise; and (iii) common law indemnity.
Thereafter, all parties reached an out-of-court resolution and the Lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice in its entirety.
For more information on this case and on the Firm's litigation practice, please contact John H. Choi at jchoi@jchoilaw.com or 201.580.0816.