PITTSBURGH – A Pittsburgh-headquartered company alleges that a competitor falsely stated on a patent application that its employees were inventors of a process for aluminum.
Arconic Inc. filed a complaint on Nov. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against Novelis Inc. and Novelis Corp. alleging breach of license agreement, breach of nondisclosure agreement and misappropriation of trade secrets.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff has developed a process to treat aluminum for automotive applications known in the suit as the A951 process. The suit states that the defendants are foreign-owned competitors of the plaintiff and licensed elements of the A951 process from the plaintiff, which was subject to a nondisclosure agreement.
The plaintiff holds Novelis Inc. and Novelis Corp. responsible because the defendants allegedly applied for a patent application of the plaintiff's A951 process and falsely asserted that two of the defendants' employees were the inventors. The plaintiff also alleges that the defendants' application published its valuable trade secrets.
The plaintiff seeks compensatory, consequential, exemplary and punitive damages; enjoin the defendants; court costs; interest and any further relief the court grants. It is represented by Patricia L. Dodge and Antoinette C. Oliver of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP in Pittsburgh and Mark A. Klapow, Michael J. Songer and Julia R. Milewski of Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case number 2:17-cv-01434-JFC