Litigation Experience

Rod Johnson's Litigation Experience

 While many such disputes are resolved amicably in private settings, others disputed enter the public record due to the filing of law suits or press releases.

Summary of Resolved Disputes

Public litigations handled by Rod Johnson include:

• Flotec, Inc. v. Southern Research, Inc., 16 F. Supp. 2d 992 (S.D. Ind. 1998), where he expanded the role of reverse engineering in avoiding trade secret claims.  By successfully defeating claims of trade secret misappropriation, copyright infringement, and trade dress infringement based on Southern Research’s reverse engineering practices, the client expanded from a startup to become the dominant manufacturer in the industry. The published opinion is cited in various cases, treatises, and law review articles on trade secrets.  
• Inovo, Inc. v. Precision Medical, Inc., 2:03-cv-522-FtM-29DNF (M.D. Fla.), where he successfully represented Inovo against a patent infringement claim, by seeking a declaratory judgment that Precision Medical’s patent was invalid or not infringed. After defeating a motion to dismiss and a preliminary injunction motion, a favorable settlement was reached in mediation.  
• Smart Kids’ Company v. Patrick W. Nee, 3:99-CV-1189(AVC) (D. Conn.), where he successfully defended Mr. Nee in a suit for trademark infringement and unfair competition related to the domain name and appearance of a web store operated by Mr. Nee. The dispute was settled with a large monetary payment to Mr. Nee.  
• Infiltrator Systems Inc. v. PSA, Inc., 3:97-CV-00822(JCH) (D. Conn.), where he helped successfully defend PSA in a patent infringement suit after court-ordered arbitration.