Breathe Technologies, Inc. v. New Aera, Inc.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided August 17, 2020·No. 5:19-cv-07691·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 7 BREATHE TECHNOLOGIES, INC., 8 Case No. 5:19-cv-07691-EJD Plaintiff, 9 ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO v. COMPEL ARBITRATION 10 NEW AERA, INC., et al., Re: Dkt. Nos. 55, 56 11 Defendants. 12

13 14 Before the Court is Defendant Inogen, Inc. (“Inogen”) and Defendant Todd W. Allum’s 15 Motion to Dismiss, Compel Arbitration, and Stay. Dkt. No. 56 (“Motion to Compel”). Defendant 16 Silverbow Development LLC (“Silverbow,” and collectively with Inogen and Allum, 17 “Defendants”) filed a Joinder in the Motion as well as a separate Motion to Dismiss First 18 Amended Complaint for Lack of Subject-Matter Jurisdiction. Dkt. No. 55 (“Silverbow Motion to 19 Dismiss”). Plaintiff Breathe Technologies, Inc. (“Breathe” or “Plaintiff”) opposes both motions. 20 Dkt. Nos. 59, 60. The Court took the matter under submission for decision without oral argument 21 pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b). For the reasons below, Defendants’ Motion to Compel is 22 GRANTED. Silverbow’s Motion to Dismiss is DENIED as moot. 23 I. Background 24 Plaintiff Breathe and Defendants New Aera, Inc. (“New Aera”), Inogen, and Silverbow are 25 all in the business of providing wearable ventilators for patients with respiratory disorders. 26 Amended Compl., Dkt. No. 48, ¶¶ 3-6. These systems provide mechanical ventilation while 27 allowing patients to be mobile and engage in activities of daily life. Id. ¶ 12. 1 In or around 2008, Breathe began developing new solutions for noninvasive ventilation 2 and hired Defendant Allum, among others, to help advance those goals. Id. ¶ 18. Mr. Allum 3 worked with a group of Breathe employees and consultants to design nozzles for Breathe’s nasal 4 interface. Id. ¶ 19. The project included research and development related to the incorporation of 5 a so-called “daisy nozzle”—a particular design of noninvasive ventilation interface consisting of 6 two “hubs” of air apertures that dose compressed gas positioned within a pair of “nasal pillows.” 7 Id. ¶¶ 20, 48. Breathe alleges that in 2010 and 2011, the daisy nozzle concept was jointly 8 conceived, developed, and reduced to practice by Mr. Allum and Breathe consultant Dr. Richard 9 Lyon. Id. ¶ 22. 10 Mr. Allum and Breathe had an At Will Employment Confidential Information, Invention 11 Assignment, and Arbitration Agreement with Breathe (“Allum Agreement”), by which Mr. Allum 12 agreed to assign to Breathe all inventions, developments, improvements, designs, and discoveries 13 conceived, developed, or reduced to practice by him, solely or jointly with others, during his 14 employment. Id. ¶¶ 26-27. Dr. Lyon had a Consulting Agreement with Breathe (“Lyon 15 Agreement”), which provided the same. Id. ¶¶ 29-30. Both Agreements contain substantially 16 similar arbitration clauses, which state, in relevant part: 17 “[A]ny and all controversies, claims, or disputes with anyone (including the 18 company . . .) arising out of, relating to, or resulting from my employment 19 with the company or the termination of my employment with the company, 20 including any breach of this agreement, shall be subject to binding 21 arbitration.” 22 Dkt. 48, Ex. 1, § 10(A); Ex. 2, § 10(A). Both Agreements also incorporate the “Arbitration Rules 23 set forth in California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1280 through 1294.2” and are expressly 24 governed by California law. Id. at §§ 10(A), 11(A). 25 Mr. Allum left Breathe in September 2011. Am. Compl. ¶ 34. In or around April 2012, 26 Mr. Allum became the Vice President of Technology at New Aera and its affiliate Silverbow, both 27 of which were cofounded by the former Chief Executive Officer of Breathe, Gregory Kapust. Id. 1 ¶¶ 17, 33-34. In 2018, New Aera brought to market a new ventilator system that, according to 2 Breathe, utilizes the daisy nozzle concept that Mr. Allum developed during his employment at 3 Breathe. Id. ¶¶ 37-42. Mr. Allum and Mr. Kapust applied for several patents related to the new 4 ventilator system, incorporating the daisy nozzle concept. Ibid. Mr. Allum is listed as the 5 inventor on each of these patents, either alone or with Mr. Kapust, and Silverbow is listed as the 6 assignee. Id. ¶¶ 38-41. In 2019, New Aera and Silverbow merged with Inogen and Inogen 7 acquired the rights to the patents. 8 The day before filing this lawsuit, Breathe sent Mr. Allum a letter requesting that he assign 9 certain patents to Breathe, citing a clause in his Employment Agreement that requires him to assist 10 Breathe in securing rights to any inventions or original works Mr. Allum developed while 11 employed at Breathe. Id. ¶ 59. Mr. Allum did not act on the letter. Ibid. Breathe then brought 12 this lawsuit, alleging the following claims: (1) Correction of Inventorship of U.S. Patents 13 Purportedly owned by Inogen against Inogen; (2) Declaratory Relief as to its “Rights to Daisy 14 Nozzle Patents Based on Correct Inventorship” against Inogen; (3) Unfair Competition Based on 15 Inventorship against Silverbow and Inogen; (4) Declaratory Relief as to its “Rights to Daisy 16 Nozzle Patents Based on Allum Assignment” against Inogen; (5) Breach of Contract against Mr. 17 Allum; (6) Inducing Breach of Contract against Silverbow and Inogen; (7) Tortious Interference 18 with Contract against Silverbow and Inogen; and (8) Unfair Competition Based on Allum against 19 all Defendants. Breathe initially brought a claim for patent infringement against Inogen as well 20 (see Original Complaint ¶¶ 83-89) but dropped that claim in the Amended Complaint and instead 21 asserted it in a separate action in the Central District of California. 22 Breathe has two overarching theories of relief: first, if Dr. Lyon contributed to the 23 invention of the daisy nozzle, then he should be listed as an inventor on the related patents and 24 Breathe is a rightful owner of those patents by operation of the automatic assignment clause in the 25 Lyon Agreement. Claims 1-3 (the “Lyon Claims”) generally pertain to this theory of relief. 26 Second, if Mr. Allum invented the Daisy Nozzle while working for Breathe, then Breathe is a 27 rightful owner of the related patents by operation of the automatic assignment in the Allum 1 Agreement, and Mr. Allum breached his agreement by failing to assist Breathe in securing 2 ownership. Claims 4-8 (the “Allum Claims”) generally pertain to this theory of relief. 3 Defendants Inogen and New Aera, joined by Silverbow, filed the present Motion to 4 Dismiss, Compel Arbitration, and Stay arguing (1) Breathe’s unfair competition claims should be 5 dismissed because they are preempted by federal intellectual property statutes; (2) all of Breathe’s 6 claims should be arbitrated pursuant to the arbitration clauses in both the Allum Agreement and 7 Lyon Agreement; and (3) any claims not subject to arbitration should be stayed until the 8 arbitration is complete. Mot. to Compel, pp. 21-24. Defendant Silverbow separately filed a 9 Motion to Dismiss the claims against it, arguing that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction 10 because Breathe’s seven state law claims predominate over its one federal law claim. Breathe 11 opposes both motions, arguing primarily that Inogen, New Aera, and Silverbow may not compel 12 arbitration because they are not signatories to the Allum Agreement or the Lyon Agreement. Dkt. 13 No. 60 (“Opposition”). They further argue that the unfair competition claims are not preempted, 14 that this Court has subject matter jurisdiction over all claims, and that it should exercise its 15 discretion to keep all claims in Federal Court even if certain claims are properly subject to 16 arbitration. 17 Because the Court finds that Breathe’s unfair competition claims should be arbitrated, the 18 Court does not consider Defendants’ arguments to dismiss those claims. The preemption issue is 19 more appropriately addressed by the arbitral tribunal. See California Trucking Ass’n v. Corcoran, 20 74 F.R.D. 534, 548 (N.D. Cal.

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