LOS ANGELES — An engineer has filed suit against a vehicle manufacturer and other entities for alleged patent infringement.
R. Thomas Cannarella filed a complaint on Aug. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division, against Volvo Car USA LLC, Grey Global Group Inc., The Big Picture Co., 1st Avenue Machine USA Inc., SCPS Unlimited LLC, Bob Partington and Does 1-10, alleging that they misappropriated a patent through false advertising.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on April 12 he was informed of a commercial made by the defendants that featured a peristaltic generation system nearly identical to his Cannarella Clean Energy System, and which falls within the scope of the ‘661 Patent. For two months, the plaintiff claims to have conveyed his interest in developing a working relationship with the defendants to develop the technology, but the defendants allegedly had no desire to work with the plaintiff. The plaintiff claims that since the release of the commercial, interest from investors has purportedly slowed down at the detriment of the plaintiff’s start-up business and efforts to commercialize the system.
The plaintiff holds Volvo Car USA LLC et al responsible because the defendants allegedly failed to substantiate claims made in the commercial with engineering information, claimed to have invented the infringing system and acted in bad faith to injure the plaintiff.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks to enjoin defendants from further infringement, damages at three times the amount assessed, to be judged as an exceptional case, to publish a corrected commercial video, attorneys’ fees, costs of suit and further relief as the court may deem just. He is represented by Scott M. Lowry and Stuart O. Lowry of Lowry Blixseth LLP in Calabasas.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 2:16-cv-06195