2ND TURBON MOTION SHOT DOWN IN LAWSUIT AGAINST HP

[Anonymous]

2ND Turbon Motion for Reconsideration Shot Down in Lawsuit against HP

Remanufacturer Turbon International has been handed another setback in its lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Hewlett-Packard (Thailand), Ltd currently before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. At the end of March, Judge Victor Marrero denied Turbon’s motion to reconsider his ruling dismissing some of Turbon’s charges against the printer OEM.

To recap, on March 8, Judge Marrero granted HP’s motion to dismiss Turbon’s charges of misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, and false advertising by HP, leaving the allegations of tortious interference and fraudulent inducement by HP still to be resolved (see “HP Scores Important Win in Turbon v. HP Lawsuit”). Turbon then filed a motion for reconsideration of this decision (see “Turbon Not Backing Down in Lawsuit against HP”). Turbon claimed that the cases relied upon in the judge’s order were not pertinent, that the court analyzed Turbon’s misappropriation of trade secrets claim under and improper standard, and that Turbon alleged facts sufficient to plead a cause of action for trade secret misappropriation under New Jersey law.

Judge Marrero’s terse order denying Turbon’s motion for reconsideration states, “The Court is not persuaded that Turbon has presented any new facts or controlling law the Court overlooked that might reasonably be expected to alter the Court’s order …  The Court therefore concludes that reconsideration is not warranted.”

What Now?

As noted above, the court has yet to rule on Turbon’s claims of tortious interference and fraudulent inducement. The allegation of tortious interference pertains largely to HP Thailand, and the defendants in this lawsuit have argued that the court does not have jurisdiction over HP Thailand. As far as we can tell, based on public documents available in the case, the jurisdiction issue has yet to be decided.

So now, it seems, a weakened Turbon complaint against HP and HP Thailand will move forward. We have no crystal ball and cannot say how the court may rule on the tortious interference and fraudulent inducement claims, and it is possible that Turbon will prevail and be awarded some relief by the court. Still, it seems fair to say that so far the court’s rulings have not gone the remanufacturer’s way.

[Author]

June 1, 2011 at 10:35 AM