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Seems Display technology is worthy of Racketeering Activity and more:
Kent Display Systems, Inc. Kent, Ohio Manning Ventures, Inc. Southfield,
Michigan
Lawsuit Names Former Kent Display Systems President, Alleges Breaches of
Fiduciary Duties, Racketeering ActivityŠ
December 7, 1998 Kent, Ohio - Kent Display Systems, Inc. of Kent, Ohio,
in conjunction with Manning Ventures, Inc. and William Manning of
Rochester, New York, have filed a Complaint in the Court of Common Pleas
of Portage County, Ohio against Kent Display Systems' former president
and associated companies. The former president, Zvi Yaniv, recently of
Austin, Texas, as well as Yaniv's company, Advanced Technology
Incubator, Inc. of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and a Kent Display
Systems competitor, Advanced Displays Systems, Inc. of Amarillo, Texas
have all been named as defendants in the Complaint.
The Complaint alleges breaches of fiduciary duties, racketeering
activity, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of confidence,
fraud, conversion, unjust enrichment; and conspiracy by Yaniv, Advanced
Technology Incubator and Advanced Display Systems to misappropriate
certain trade secrets of Kent Display Systems. Advanced Display Systems
is also named as a defendant in counts charging tortious interference
with Yaniv's contract with Mr. Manning and inducing Yaniv to breach his
fiduciary duties at Kent Display Systems. The case has been assigned to
Judge John E. Enlow.
The Complaint was filed after two years of investigation by Kent Display
Systems and the disclosure of information revealed in recent litigation
involving Advanced Display Systems (now on appeal to the United States
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit) and other businesses with
which Yaniv had personal connections.
Founded in 1993, Kent Display Systems is primarily owned by Manning
Ventures and Kent Research Corporation, an affiliate of Kent State
University. Kent Display Systems holds an exclusive global license for
cholesteric display technology from Kent Research Corporation. This
technology was developed by the University's prestigious Liquid Crystal
Display Institute. Kent Display Systems specializes in the licensing and
commercialization of cholesteric liquid crystal technology.
Cholesteric liquid crystal displays, when compared to conventional
liquid crystal displays, use no power, to display images to greatly
lengthen battery life or reduce battery size in portable electronic
equipment. This technology also provides higher contrast for better
viewing of information even in direct sunlight than conventional liquid
crystal displays. Primary applications for cholesteric displays include:
cellular phones, pagers, global positioning systems, appliances,
instruments, electronic readers, information signage and Night Vision
Compatible (NVG) Military Displays.
Manning Ventures, with offices in Southfield, Michigan and Rochester,
New York, was founded by William Manning in 1993 as a venture capital
company focused on investment in emerging high technology companies such
as Kent Display Systems.
Any questions concerning this matter should be addressed to Mr. Leslie
W. Jacobs, Thompson Hine & Flory LLP, 3900 Key Center, 127 Public
Square, Cleveland, Ohio 44114, (216) 566-5500.
Products and technologies of Kent Displays, Inc. are protected by the
following patents as well as other patents and applications; United
States; 5,437,811; 5,384,067; 5,251,048. People's Republic of China;
92103952.2. Israel; 101,766. Taiwan; 801405631. PCT (EP, Canada, Korea,
Japan and Norway); 92/03504; 9209367. |
