Intellectual Property News and Reports

It’s been said that 80 percent of success is showing up. One can quibble about the percentage, but it’s a good bet that refusing to show up, especially when you’re being sued, is a recipe for failure. That’s a lesson that Jiangsu Tie Mao Glass Co. Ltd. (“TMG”) should have taken to heart. By its failure to appear in this lawsuit until practically the end, TMG effectively conceded the allegations of the complaint that PPG Industries, Inc. (“PPG”) had served on it. And those allegations – now accepted as fact – are damning. As recounted herein, TMG got a former PPG employee to turn over valuable trade secrets belonging to PPG. Then, with those misappropriated trade secrets, TMG took steps to compete with PPG in a particular product line. When the misappropriation came to light and PPG sued TMG, the latter watched from overseas rather than litigate. As a consequence, PPG asked the District Court to enter default judgment and award damages in the amount that TMG was unjustly enriched. Only then did TMG decide it was worth coming to court, but its protestations were and are too little and much too late. We will affirm.

Download PPG Industries Inc v. Jiangsu Tie Mao Glass Co Ltd