Court Opinion

ID: 9889215
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 21:01:10.120883+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:34:12.154130
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 22-12877   Document: 31-1    Date Filed: 10/06/2023   Page: 1 of 3

                                                [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                 In the
                United States Court of Appeals
                        For the Eleventh Circuit

                         ____________________

                              No. 22-12877
                         ____________________

       ARNO RESOURCES, LLC,
                                                   Plaintiﬀ-Appellant,
       versus
       EPIC TECH, LLC,
       FRONTIER SOFTWARE SYSTEMS, LLC,
       RED ROCK INVESTMENTS, LLC,
       CRIMSON SKY, LLC,
       CRIMSON SKY II, LLC, et al.,

                                                Defendants-Appellees.

                         ____________________
USCA11 Case: 22-12877     Document: 31-1     Date Filed: 10/06/2023   Page: 2 of 3

       2                     Opinion of the Court                22-12877

                 Appeal from the United States District Court
                    for the Northern District of Georgia
                    D.C. Docket No. 1:20-cv-02540-ELR
                          ____________________

       Before JORDAN, ROSENBAUM, and HULL, Circuit Judges.
       PER CURIAM:
              Plaintiff-Appellant Arno Resources, LLC appeals the district
       court’s order dismissing its complaint against: (1) six corporate
       entities—Epic Tech, LLC, Frontier Software Systems, LLC, Red
       Rock Investments, LLC, Crimson Sky, LLC, Crimson Sky II, LLC,
       and Winter Sky, LLC; and (2) six individuals—Bob Mosley, Sr., Bob
       Mosley, Jr., Starita Mosley, J. Michael Caldwell, Tim Caldwell, and
       Erik Nordin. Arno’s complaint raised several claims stemming
       from a “Development Agreement” between Custom Game
       Design, Inc.—Arno’s predecessor-in-interest—and Gateway
       Gaming, LLC—a now-dissolved, non-defendant corporation
       owned and operated by Mosley, Sr. and J. Michael Caldwell.
             Under the Development Agreement, Gateway paid Custom
       $855,400 to create gaming applications, and Custom granted
       Gateway a perpetual worldwide license to use Custom’s
       proprietary gaming terminals and “back-end” software required to
       run the gaming applications (collectively the “Software”). Arno’s
       claims centered on its allegations that the Software licensed to
       Gateway under the Development Agreement was
       non-transferrable to a third party and that defendants-appellees
USCA11 Case: 22-12877     Document: 31-1     Date Filed: 10/06/2023    Page: 3 of 3

       22-12877              Opinion of the Court                        3

       improperly transferred or assigned that Software license to some of
       the corporate defendants.
              The corporate and individual defendants filed motions to
       dismiss on multiple grounds. In ruling on the motions, the district
       court: (1) dismissed without prejudice for lack of personal
       jurisdiction Arno’s claims against Mosley, Sr., Mosley, Jr., Starita
       Mosley, and J. Michael Caldwell; and (2) dismissed with prejudice
       for failure to state a claim for relief Arno’s claims against the
       corporate defendants and the remaining individual defendants.
       Regarding this latter ruling, the district court concluded that the
       Development Agreement did not prohibit the transfer of the
       Software license Gateway paid for and received.
              After careful consideration of the parties’ briefs and the
       entire record, and with the benefit of oral argument, we find no
       reversible error and affirm the district court’s dismissal of Arno’s
       complaint: (1) without prejudice as to defendants Mosley Sr.,
       Mosley, Jr., Starita Mosley, and J. Michael Caldwell; and (2) with
       prejudice as to defendants Tim Caldwell, Erik Nordin, Epic Tech,
       LLC, Frontier Software Systems, LLC, Red Rock Investments,
       LLC, Crimson Sky, LLC, Crimson Sky II, LLC, and Winter Sky,
       LLC.
             AFFIRMED.