Biofeedtrac, Inc. v. Kolinor Optical Enterprises & Consultants, S.R.L.

817 F. Supp. 326, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4450
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMarch 24, 1993
Docket90 C 1169
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 817 F. Supp. 326 (Biofeedtrac, Inc. v. Kolinor Optical Enterprises & Consultants, S.R.L.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Biofeedtrac, Inc. v. Kolinor Optical Enterprises & Consultants, S.R.L., 817 F. Supp. 326, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4450 (E.D.N.Y. 1993).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

NICKERSON, District Judge:

Plaintiff, a New York corporation with offices in Brooklyn, New York, brought this action against defendant Kolinor Optical Enterprises & Consultants, S.R.L. (Kolinor), its licensee, for breach of a licensing agreement for a vision device, tortious interference with contractual relations, unfair competition, trademark infringement, and false designation of origin. Kolinor is an Italian company with headquarters in Florence, Italy, and the original complaint was based on diversity jurisdiction.

On May 3,1990 the court enjoined Kolinor and anyone acting in concert with it from, among other things, developing a vision training device in competition with plaintiffs trainer in violation of confidentiality and non-competition clauses in a distribution agreement between Kolinor and plaintiff.

*328 Thereafter, plaintiff allegedly discovered a conspiracy among Kolinor and others to steal plaintiffs technical secrets in order to manufacture and market a competing vision trainer named the Enlightener. It filed with leave of the court an amended complaint adding numerous (including several non-diverse) defendants and claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968, and under common law for misappropriation of confidential know-how and trade secrets.

By Memorandum and Order dated June 26, 1991, familiarity with which is assumed, the court dismissed the RICO counts as to all defendants, with leave to replead. The court held that the amended complaint did not allege adequately an “enterprise.”

On October 28,1991 plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint (the Complaint) which now names 20 defendants in addition to Koli-nor and which alleges the following facts about each of them.

Defendant George Jordan, a resident of Florence, Italy is the president of Kolinor.

Defendants Allessandro Fossetti and Marco Vespa, both residents of Italy, are principals and officers of Kolinor.

Defendant Christopher K. Kuehn, a New York lawyer, provided legal counsel to Koli-nor initially while an associate at Cutner & Rathkopf and, later, as a private practitioner. He subsequently also provided legal counsel to defendants WRS Manufacture, Inc. and WRS Vision, Inc.

Defendant Filippo Pratesi is the president of defendant Chimitee S.A.S. and is believed to reside in Florence, Italy. He and Fossetti disassembled a Biofeedtrac vision trainer and developed the prototype of a competing trainer, known as the “Enlightener.”

Defendant Reagan Dees, a resident of London, England, is the chairman of defendant, Essinar, Ltd. (Essinar), a foreign corporation with offices in London, England. Kolinor had an agreement with Essinar, granting it the exclusive right to distribute the Biofeedtrac trainer in the United Kingdom.

Defendants Ramon Codina (Codina) and Maria Codina, reside in Barcelona, Spain. They are, respectively, the president and an officer of Biotec, S.A. (Biotec), which, like Essinar, had an exclusive agreement with Kolinor to distribute the Biofeedtrac trainer in Spain and Portugal.

Defendant Worldwide Regulation Services, Ltd. (Worldwide), a foreign corporation formed in the United Kingdom, is in the business of assisting manufacturers of electrical and medical equipment in meeting equipment standards so that the equipment may be imported into various countries. Worldwide maintains offices in Tucson, Arizona, and at the time of the actions alleged in the Complaint, it maintained offices in Bohemia, New York.

Defendants WRS Manufacture, Inc. and WRS Vision, Inc., Delaware corporations with offices in Tucson, Arizona, were established, respectively, to manufacture and market the Enlightener vision trainer.

Defendant Worldwide Regulation Services, Inc. is a New York corporation which, at certain relevant times, had offices in New York.

Defendant Patrick G. MeGarry is the managing director of Worldwide and the president of the other Worldwide and WRS companies. At the time of the actions alleged in the Complaint he apparently resided in New York State and in England. Defendant Wendy MeGarry is or is believed to be an officer, director or shareholder of these companies.

Defendant Richard C. Lanzillotto, a New York resident, is an officer of Worldwide and Worldwide Regulation Services, Inc.

Defendant Dov Gottesman (Gottesman) resides in Geneva, Switzerland and intended to or did invest in the scheme to manufacture and market the Enlightener. His son, defendant Noam Gottesman, resides in London, England.

The court addresses three motions. Gottesman and Noam Gottesman move to dismiss the Complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction. Kuehn moves to dismiss claims alleging violations of the RICO Act and tor-tious interference with contractual relations. *329 And plaintiff seeks an order that Codina and Maria Codina have defaulted together with injunctive relief.

I

The parties have conducted substantial discovery since 1990 and have submitted affidavits, deposition testimony, and documentary evidence in support of the various motions. The papers show the following.

A. The Biofeedtrac-Kolinor-Essinar-Bio-tec distribution network

Plaintiff manufactures and holds patents in the United States and the United Kingdom for a vision training device which, using the principles of biofeedback, allows a patient to learn how to control a muscle in the eye and, thus, improve visual focusing ability. The vision trainer is reportedly effective in reducing myopia and in improving other vision impairments. Dr. Joseph N. Trachtman is both the inventor of the Biofeedtrac trainer and the president of the company.

On November 6, 1987 Dr. Trachtman and Jordan executed a distribution agreement whereby Kolinor would have the exclusive right, until December 31, 1989, to distribute the Biofeedtrac trainer in the European Economic Community, Israel, and North Africa.

In 1988 Kolinor entered into sub-distribution agreements with Essinar and Biotec, granting them exclusive rights to distribute Biofeedtrac trainers, respectively, in the United Kingdom and in Spain and Portugal.

Beginning in 1988 Dr. Trachtman, Jordan, and Gottesman, an investor, began to negotiate a deal whereby Jordan and Gottesman would acquire the worldwide distribution rights to the Biofeedtrac trainer. These negotiations broke down in January 1989 when Dr. Trachtman insisted that Gottesman pay $6 million up front to proceed with the venture.

B. The Jordaur-Kuehwr-McGarry-Gottes-man scheme

By mid-1989 business relations between Dr. Trachtman and Jordan apparently began to deteriorate. Dr. Trachtman was evidently uncertain that he would renew the agreement with Kolinor that would expire at the end of the year.

Jordan, too, had doubts that Kolinor would continue to purchase vision trainers from plaintiff after the distribution agreement expired.

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Bluebook (online)
817 F. Supp. 326, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4450, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/biofeedtrac-inc-v-kolinor-optical-enterprises-consultants-srl-nyed-1993.