Two Warsaw orthopedic companies exchanged press releases this week regarding a 19-month-old lawsuit that saw additional action taken in the last week of 2018.
OrthoPediatrics Corp. last week filed a sanctions motion, the latest step in a lawsuit it filed in Whitley County Superior Court in Columbia City against Dr. Robert von Seggern of Columbia City and WishBone Medical Inc., alleging violations of state and federal trade secret statutes.
The original suit, filed May 15, 2017, alleges von Seggern violated the terms of an agreement he and OrthoPediatrics entered into on Jan. 31, 2010, for “services related to sales and commercial strategies.” The agreement was amended twice, two months after the original agreement and again on Feb. 1, 2011.
According to the complaint filed, von Seggern was terminated from his relationship with OrthoPediatrics on Jan. 1, 2017, pursuant to a confidential service agreement.
In the time between the original filing and last week’s action, WishBone’s attorney, Raymond T. Seach, of Indianapolis, asked for a jury trial on June 1, 2017. An attempt at mediation was not successful. Each side has filed several motions since the original filing, each trying to force the other’s hand.
In the first press release posted on the company’s website Wednesday, OrthoPediatrics’ Daniel Gerritzen, vice president and general counsel, said “the underlying lawsuit alleges that von Seggern stole OrthoPediatrics’ trade secrets and confidential information and then turned those over to WishBone Medical for its use in developing pediatric orthopedic products. The sanctions motion requests the court to sanction von Seggern and WishBone Medical for their repeated, deliberate efforts to subvert the discovery process by refusing to produce responsive documents and information, hiding or otherwise destroying evidence, and making misstatements to OrthoPediatrics and the Court concerning the existence of responsive documents and its efforts to find and produce such materials.
“OrthoPediatrics welcomes legitimate competition because that means more kids with pediatric orthopedic conditions will have greater opportunities to be helped, however, we will not tolerate individuals or entities misappropriating our property, in part, to leapfrog years of design and testing work and avoid the significant monetary expense of bringing competing products to market.
“With this in mind, we will continue to aggressively pursue every legal remedy to protect and safeguard our research and product development efforts to improve the lives of children with pediatric conditions. This includes holding those accountable who attempt to use, without authorization, OrthoPediatrics’ trade secrets and confidential information. The trade secrets and confidential information we have become aware von Seggern and WishBone Medical misappropriated relates to aspects of our current Trauma and Deformity Correction medical devices. While very serious, the misappropriation does not significantly jeopardize our overall research and development pipeline.
“OrthoPediatrics takes active measures to protect its trade secrets and confidential information. These safeguards continue to be refined and adapted in light of ever-changing threats.”
Due to the ongoing lawsuit, OrthoPediatrics stated it will not provide any additional comments or details regarding this matter other than what is reflected in court filings and court orders.
In a Thursday press release responding to OrthoPediatrics’ statement Wednesday, Nick Deeter, CEO of Wishbone Medical, said, “Both the motion and OrthoPediatrics’ case as a whole are without merit and OP knows it. OP is merely trying to use this litigation to bully WishBone Medical by trying to outspend us on lawyers.
“We have new, innovative, and better orthopedic products for kids. We know it; they know it. It’s really that simple. But OP sees this as a threat to their profits, so they are trying to use the litigation process to hamper and spy on WishBone.
“It’s dishonorable; and it won’t work. We are very confident in our case and we will be asking the court for a trial date as soon as available so that we can put an end to OP’s anti-competitive and cowardly tactics.
“We are operating in a $2.5 billion market where 95 percent of the implants were not designed for children. It’s an appalling statistic. I would welcome the competition to improve outcomes for children.
“Sadly, this legal campaign by OP is designed to eliminate fair competition while doing nothing to promote improved outcomes for children.”
Deeter also said he expects to win the case.
“WishBone fully expects to be vindicated in this lawsuit,” he said in the press release. “We look forward to having it behind us so that we can continue to build our company.”
