Jury Awards AeroVironment Damages of More Than $2.4 Million in Lawsuit Against AeroVironment's Former Employees who Founded MicaSense, Inc.

Loading...
Loading...
  • Jury found that former AeroVironment employees, Gabriel Torres, Justin McAllister, and Jeff McBride engaged in fraud against AeroVironment
  • Jury found that Torres and McAllister breached their Patent and Confidentiality Agreements with AeroVironment
  • Litigation continues on pending equitable relief claims

AeroVironment, Inc. AVAV today announced that it won an important jury verdict in Ventura County Superior Court. On February 26 the jury found that former AeroVironment employees, Gabriel Torres, Justin McAllister, and Jeff McBride engaged in fraud, and that Torres and McAllister breached their respective Patent and Confidentiality Agreements. The jury also awarded punitive damages against all three defendants. The total verdict was more than $2.4 million. Torres, McAllister, and McBride are founders of MicaSense, Inc., which is majority-owned by Parrot SA.

"A pillar of AeroVironment's value creation strategy is innovation and intellectual property development," said Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment president and chief executive officer. "Our people work extremely hard, every day, to develop innovative solutions to our customers' important challenges. We consider any violation of our intellectual property rights a serious offense against our company, employees, customers and stockholders. We will continue to protect our rights aggressively."

AeroVironment is a leader in small unmanned aircraft systems (drones), tactical missile systems, High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellites (HAPS) and electric vehicle charging and test systems. AeroVironment recently began offering the first fully integrated drone, sensor and software information solution, that's as easy to use as an app, for collecting and using aerial imagery. The Quantix™ drone performs a fully-automated takeoff, scouting mission and landing, digitizing up to 400 acres of crops in a 45-minute flight. The AeroVironment Decision Support System, or AVDSS™, processes the drone data to deliver actionable intelligence to farmers, so they can make more informed decisions and proceed with certainty.

AeroVironment was represented by Jennifer Baldocchi and Cameron W. Fox of Paul Hastings LLP.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment AVAV provides customers with more actionable intelligence so they can proceed with certainty. Based in California, AeroVironment is a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems, tactical missile systems and electric vehicle charging and test systems, and serves militaries, government agencies, businesses and consumers. For more information visit www.avinc.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are made on the basis of current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors outside of our control, that may cause our business, strategy or actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our ability to perform under existing contracts and obtain additional contracts; our reliance on sales to the U.S. government; changes in the timing and/or amount of government spending; changes in the supply and/or demand and/or prices for our products and services; changes in the regulatory environment; the activities of competitors; failure of the markets in which we operate to grow; failure to expand into new markets; failure to develop new products or integrate new technology with current products; and general economic and business conditions in the United States and elsewhere in the world. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on 10-Q. We do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Stay connected with the latest news by following us on social media:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aerovironmentinc
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/aerovironment
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aerovironment
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AeroVironmentInc
Google+: https://plus.google.com/100557642515390130818/posts

Loading...
Loading...
Posted In: Press Releases
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...