Young, Garcia, & Quadrozzi PC, a Farmington Hills-based boutique law firm specializing in complex commercial litigation, recently announced plaintiff Versata Software Inc. (Versata) was victorious over defendant Ford Motor Company in the case: Versata Software Inc., et al. v. Ford Motor Company (Case. No.15-10628-MFL-EAS, Eastern District of Michigan). On October 26, Versata was awarded more than $100 million in damages following a unanimous jury decision. Young, Garcia, & Quadrozzi shareholder Jaye Quadrozzi made the announcement.
In a victory on plaintiff Versata’s behalf, a trial team led by Winston & Strawn trial lawyer Dan Webb (first chair), along with Matthew Carter (Winston & Strawn), Steven Mitby (Mitby Pacholder Johnson PLLC), and Jaye Quadrozzi (Young, Garcia, & Quadrozzi PC), secured a plaintiff verdict for client Versata Software Inc., et al. following a jury trial presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Leitman, Eastern District of Michigan.
“The significance of this massive victory over Ford Motor Company is two-fold,” said Quadrozzi. “First, a win of this scale over a local OEM — and the fifth-largest automaker in the world — in The Motor City is incredibly rare. Second, and of utmost importance, is the protection of intellectual property at the highest level.”
Plaintiffs Versata Software Inc. f/k/a Trilogy Software Inc.; Versata Development Group Inc.; and Trilogy Inc. (collectively, “Versata”) sued Ford Motor Company in 2015, alleging the car manufacturer misappropriated Versata’s intellectual property to create a “like-for-like” replacement of Versata’s proprietary configuration software, breaching the parties’ licensing agreement.
“The work Versata did was not only innovative, it was transformational,” added Quadrozzi. “During the trial, the team that worked on this software nearly 20 years ago came to Detroit to testify, communicating to the jury exactly what they did and the impact their work had. As trial attorneys on this case, it was our responsibility and mission to protect the intellectual property of the brightest minds in this software and technology-driven age. We are thrilled that Versata is being recognized and compensated for their groundbreaking work.”
Ford and Versata entered into a subscription agreement in 2004 that, through multiple renewals, granted Ford the automotive configuration software (ACM) license for 10 years. Versata accused Ford of misappropriating its trade secrets and breaching the licensing agreement in 2014, when Versata learned that Ford had developed its own software to replace ACM.
Versata brought both trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract claims against Ford, seeking damages for each. Ford in turn brought a breach of contract claim against Versata. The contentious litigation lasted over seven years, culminating in a three-week October 2022 jury trial, which concluded with a unanimous ruling in favor of Versata from the eight-person jury. Versata won six of the eight claims and defeated Ford’s single counterclaim. The jury determined that over $80 million in damages fairly compensated Versata for its breach of contract claims and that over $20 million in damages fairly compensated Versata for Ford’s misappropriation of three of Versata’s trade secrets.
Opposing counsel on the case included James Feeney of Dykema Gossett; John LeRoy, Thomas Lewry, Christopher Smith and Chanille Carswell of Brooks Kushman; and Jessica Lynn Ellsworth of Hogan Lovells US LLP.
The full trial team representing Versata was led by Winston & Strawn and included partners Dan Webb, Matthew Carter, and Brian Nisbet; associates Sarah Krajewski, John Drosick, Sam Zuidema, Monica Kociolek, Kelly Mannion Ellis, Pat Simonaitis, and Tyree-Petty Williams; paralegals Martha Calvo and Schantel Deal-Ross; and practice coordinator Sandra Bell. Winston associate Jack Leon and paralegal Pat Pratt also provided invaluable assistance. The Young, Garcia, & Quadrozzi team included shareholder Jaye Quadrozzi and [aralegal Shelley Kulick. The Mitby Pacholder Johnson team included partners Steven Mitby and Timothy Johnson, attorney Drew Kim, and paralegal Geoff Litke. The Jones & Spross team included Lance Jones, Jennifer Trillsch, and Sharoon Saleem.
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