USI Holdings granted limit on copyright damages

USI Holdings Corp. reported that a federal court has granted its motion for partial summary judgment on a statue of limitations issue in the copyright infringement action William A. Graham Company v. Thomas P. Haughey and USI MidAtlantic Inc. (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, CA NO. 05-612).

The company’s subsidiary, USI MidAtlantic Inc. (USIM), and one of its employees, Thomas P. Haughey, are the defendants in the action.

2006 verdict

Following a June 2006 jury verdict against USIM and Haughey for copyright infringement in the amounts of $16.6 million and $2.2 million, respectively, USIM and Haughey filed post-trial motions on various grounds, requesting that the court overturn the verdict or grant a new trial.

On Nov. 21, 2006, the court granted USIM’s and Haughey’s motion for a new trial on the issue of the application of the statute of limitation and on damages. Thereafter, USIM and Haughey filed a motion for summary judgment on the statute of limitations issue, which was granted by the court on March 29, 2007.

According to USI, the effect of the court’s most recent ruling is to limit any damages awarded to plaintiff to the period beginning three years prior to plaintiff’s commencement of the action rather than the 13-year period considered by the jury in the original trial.

A new trial date has not been set.