Inventor dodges summary judgment in misappropriation suit vs. Hasbro.
Byline: Correy E. Stephenson
The inventor of an arts and crafts play system can pursue claims of misappropriation and breach of contract against toymaker Hasbro given the factual disputes between the parties, a U.S. magistrate judge has recommended.
Judge Lincoln D. Almond did side with the defendant toymaker on several other counts, however, dismissing a claim under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act as well as claims of unjust enrichment, unfair competition, breach of implied-in-faith contract, and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
"[T]his is a factually complex case, and Hasbro has moved for summary judgment on fact-intensive issues," Almond wrote. "Although Hasbro makes several strong arguments about the limited nature of Plaintiff's 'concept' submission, the presence of similar techniques in the public domain, and its own independent product development activities, those arguments are not strong enough to support the grant of summary judgment and must be presented to the finder of fact at trial."
Joseph Avanzato of Providence represented Hasbro and did not respond to a request for comment on the case.
Boston lawyer Jonathan W. Fitch, who represented the plaintiff, said his client was pleased with the decision and looked forward to presenting the case to a jury, but he declined to comment further given the continuing litigation.
The 15-page decision is Pawelko v. Hasbro, Inc., Lawyers Weekly No. 54-088-18. The full text of the ruling can be found here.
Arts and crafts
Marisa Pawelko executed Hasbro's standard non-disclosure agreement on Nov. 15, 2010, and pitched her idea for a new toy she called "Liquid Mosaic." The proposed product utilized a "unique craft gun" with interchangeable tips to draw different line patterns and create textures; it also contained pre-filled cartridges with a compound that would stick to different surfaces.
Pawelko's presentation to Hasbro included participation in a conference call, a five-page slide deck sent by email, and three sample craft projects (a hat, a purse and a light switch cover) made with a prototype of the product.
Hasbro passed on the idea in December 2010, telling Pawelko that Liquid Mosaic was "a great concept that we'll keep in mind for the future." Hasbro returned the samples to Pawelko in May 2011.
Pawelko filed suit against Hasbro in May 2016, alleging that the toymaker misappropriated her Liquid Mosaic submission and used it to develop two new product lines: Play...
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