ATC Distribution Group, Inc. v. Whatever It Takes Transmissions & Parts, Inc.

402 F.3d 700 (2005)

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ATC Distribution Group, Inc. v. Whatever It Takes Transmissions & Parts, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
402 F.3d 700 (2005)

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Facts

ATC Distribution Group, Inc. (ATC) (plaintiff) purchased the assets of another company that sold transmission parts. As part of the sale, ATC received the company’s parts catalogue. The catalogue had a distinct numbering system for the parts, which assigned part numbers based on brand, transmission type, and type of part. One way the catalogue assigned numbers was by leaving a certain number of spaces reserved for future new products, based on an estimate of the largest potential number of new parts. Kenny Hester worked at ATC and, after leaving ATC, opened a competing company called Whatever It Takes Transmissions & Parts, Inc. (WITT) (defendant). Hester attained a copy of the catalogue and used the copy to create a similar catalogue for WITT. ATC sued WITT for copyright infringement. The district court granted WITT’s motion for summary judgment, and ATC appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Boggs, C.J.)

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