1
PRESS RELEASE
DECEMBER 10, 2014
RE:
Federal Court Ruling Issued December 8, 2014
Reuland Electric Co. vs. Burgi Engineers, LLC et al., Case #CV 13-09499 SJO (JCx)
In late 2013, Reuland Electric Co. (“
Reuland
”), the "world’s most flexible
electric motor manufacturer," filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for
the Central District of California against Montana companies Burgi Engineering,
Inc. ("
BEI
") and Burgi Engineers, LLC ("
BELLC
") for breach of contract and
other related claims. In that suit, Reuland alleges that Reuland and BEI entered
into a non-disclosure and proprietary rights agreement under which all information,
documentation and other materials created by BEI in connection with work done
for Reuland over the 12 year relationship belongs exclusively to Reuland. Reuland
further alleges that BELLC is also bound by the agreement.
In response, BELLC asserts it is not bound by the agreement and can use
information it received and created in connection with the work it performed for
Reuland for any purpose.
Reuland recently filed a motion asking the Court to rule that BELLC is the
successor of BEI and is bound by the non-disclosure and proprietary rights
agreement [“
NDA/PRA
”].
On December 8, 2014, the Hon. S. James Otero,
United States District Court Judge, granted Reuland's motion in part and issued an
Order stating:
"
The Court finds that for the purposes of the NDA/PRA,
BELLC is the successor to BEI.
"
A trial is scheduled for February 18, 2015 to determine, in part, the amount
of monetary damages to be assessed against BEI and BELLC for breaching the
NDA/PRA.
Reuland’s
management
is
gratified
that
the
Court
confirmed
its
understanding of the business relationship under which BELLC performed
engineering services for Reuland.
For more than twenty-five years, Reuland has
acted to protect its confidential and proprietary information.
Reuland intends to
continue to aggressively protect its intellectual property rights, and will take strong
action to prevent any unauthorized and improper use of its intellectual property.
Reuland is represented by Eric N. Lindquist of Law Offices of Eric Nelson
Lindquist and by Thomas J. Daly and G. Warren Bleeker of Christie, Parker &
Hale.
For more information: Please visit the Reuland website (
www.reuland.com
)
or contact William Kramer, Executive Vice President of Reuland.
See the
following pages for the particular findings made by the Court in its Order.