Brian S. Sullivan

Experience

Ohio Willow Wood v. Alps South

John Luken served as lead appellate counsel for The Ohio Willow Wood Company (OWW), a manufacturer of prosthetic products, which came to Dinsmore after it had lost an infringement trial against a competitor, been enjoined from selling new products, held in contempt of the injunction, and ordered to pay nearly $20 million in damages to its chief competitor.

On behalf of OWW, Mr. Luken and the Dinsmore appellate team successfully obtained a stay of the contempt order from the Federal Circuit, which allowed OWW to begin selling its products again. After briefing and argument, the Federal Circuit reversed the lower court’s judgment and dismissed the complaint for lack of standing, thereby overturning the judgment against OWW. Mr. Luken also successfully opposed a petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc.

Dismissal of Federal Lawsuit

We represented John Tisch and Tisch Environmental, Inc. in complex litigation in federal court in Boston, MA. In April 2012, Plaintiff BGI sued John Tisch and his company, Tisch Environmental, Inc. BGI sought millions of dollars in damages from Tisch, alleging Lanham Act violations and claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, conspiracy, and others. BGI also sought millions of dollars from Thomas Merrifield, the former President of BGI, as well as damages from Greentech Instruments, Inc. BGI attempted to add John Tisch’s brother as a defendant, but the Court granted our motion to dismiss due to lack of personal jurisdiction. Two days before the lawsuit was scheduled to begin in Boston, BGI dismissed the lawsuit. Tisch paid no money to BGI.

BGI Inc. v. Merrifield, D. Mass. No. 12-10658-RWZ, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10300 (Jan. 25, 2013).

BGI Inc. v. Merrifield, D. Mass. No. 12-10658-RWZ, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35431 (Mar. 14, 2013).

Anonymous Plaintiff v. Insurance Company

Defended insurance company in multi-million dollar coverage action brought in state court in New Brunswick, N.J. by manufacturing company seeking to recover cleanup costs associated with environmental sites around the country. Among others, the suit included issues of choice of law, trigger of coverage, and allocation. The claims against the client were settled through mediation.

Douglas Industries, Inc. and JAIR United, Inc. v. Lear Siegler Services, Inc.

Our firm defended Lear against claims that it had failed to pay $2.5 million owed to the plaintiffs for repairs they allegedly completed and parts they allegedly supplied on Lear's behalf to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Royal Saudi Air Force for F-5 aircraft and J-785 engines under certain U.S. defense contracts. A favorable settlement was reached prior to trial.