Representative Cases

Mr. Elliott was part of the team representing one of the defendants in a case involving alleged infringement of two basic patents for polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). After the defendants filed a declaratory judgment action in the federal district court in Delaware, the Plaintiff filed a complaint in the International Trade Commission alleging infringement of the patents. Mr. Elliott handled depositions, motions, and discovery in the ITC. Shortly before the ITC hearing, the parties reached a settlement.

Mr. Elliott was part of the team representing the primary defendant in Carbo Ceramics, et al v. Norton-Alcoa Proppants et al., a patent infringement case involving a patented composition of calcined bauxite proppants. The case ultimately settled.

Mr. Elliott and his firm represented one of the defendants in a patent infringement case filed in the Northern District of Texas. The patent covered goose-necked trailers. After limited discovery Mr. Elliott filed a motion for summary judgment. Before the court ruled on the motion, the parties participated in mediation resulting in settlement.

Mr. Elliott and his firm represented the plaintiff in a case covering framed sculptures. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant had deliberately copied certain 3-dimensional framed sculptures that were protected trade dress under the federal Lanham Act. After defeating the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, the case was resolved via a confidential settlement agreement.

Mr. Elliott and his firm represented the patent owner in Ivan G. Rice v. General Electric in federal district court in Houston, Texas. Mr. Rice charged General Electric with willful infringement of various patents covering aspects of the blades of steam turbines. The case was ultimately resolved following mediation.

Mr. Elliott and his firm represented the defendants who had been sued for copyright infringement based on the design of a 3-story townhome. Defendants alleged that because Mr. Milbauer had actively participated in the design of the townhome, he qualified as a joint author notwithstanding that the architect he had hired had secretly registered the copyrights for the drawings and the townhome itself. This was the first case in the Southern District of Texas in which the Architectural Protection Act of the U.S. copyright law had been litigated. Just before trial the parties settled.

Mr. Elliott and his firm represented CICCorp Inc. in federal district court in Houston, and filed a successful opposition to a motion for summary judgment filed by the Defendant. The case ultimately settled.

Mr. Elliott and his firm represented a prolific inventor, Ivan G. Rice, in a patent case against Asea Brown Boveri in which the central issue was whether a license agreement had been breached. The dispute with ABB concerned European Patent No. 20594 for a reheat gas turbine. After discovery and an arbitration hearing before a panel of three arbitators, but before a decision, the parties reached a settlement.

Mr. Elliott and his firm represented an inventor in a patent infringement case involving seismic processing. After the court denied numerous defendant motions for summary judgment, the case went to mediation, resulting in a confidential settlement.