Opinion ID: 766560
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: 1993 Unfair Competition Lawsuit

Text: 2 Augustine sued Progressive on June 2, 1993, in Minnesota federal district court claiming unfair competition, false advertising, deceptive trade practices, and product disparagement. The claims generally related to Progressive's alleged misrepresentations to customers concerning the effectiveness of its products and their compatibility with Augustine's product. Progressive counterclaimed, alleging violations of section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, deceptive trade practices, illegal tying arrangements, and attempted monopolization. It is undisputed that patent infringement was not part of this lawsuit; nevertheless, Progressive's convective warming blankets at issue in this unfair competition suit were the same as the accused blankets in the later-filed patent infringement suit, which we discuss below. 3 The parties entered into a Settlement Agreement and Release of Claims on April 24, 1995 (Settlement Agreement). The Settlement Agreement states in Paragraph 1: 4 AMI does hereby . . . release and forever discharge PDI from any and all manner of action or actions . . . that AMI and/or its owners . . . have, have had, or may have against PDI upon or by reason of or relating to any acts, omissions or statements made by PDI on or before the date of this Settlement Agreement, including, but not limited to, any and all claims that were or could have been asserted by AMI in the [present lawsuit]. . . . AMI covenants and agrees not to commence any action or proceeding against PDI arising out of or related to, statements not otherwise precluded by this Settlement Agreement made after the date hereof that are in substance repetitions of statements made by PDI prior to the date of this Settlement Agreement that were at issue in the above-referenced litigation. 5 (Emphasis added.) 6 During the negotiation of the Settlement Agreement, Augustine asserts that Progressive sought a license from Augustine. According to Augustine, it informed Progressive that it would not agree to refrain from suing Progressive in the future for patent infringement occurring after the date of the Settlement Agreement. On its part, Progressive asserts that Augustine requested that the Settlement Agreement be revised to specifically exclude claims of patent infringement, but Progressive refused, and Augustine signed the Settlement Agreement as drafted.