Verson Corporation v. Verson International Group, PLC
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
899 F. Supp. 358 (1995)

- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
Verson Corporation (Verson) (plaintiff) manufactured presses for the metal-forming industry. Verson was experiencing financial difficulties, so a group of its managers bought its international operations using a newly formed company, Verson International Group PLC (VIG) (defendant). Verson and VIG executed a nonexclusive license agreement under which Verson agreed to turn over to VIG its patents and nonpatented trade secrets (collectively, its know-how). Afterward, VIG entered into an agreement with one of Verson’s North American competitors, under which VIG agreed to assign to the competitor certain know-how it received from Verson pursuant to the Verson-VIG license agreement. Verson sued VIG, claiming that the parties’ license agreement prohibited VIG from assigning Verson’s know-how without Verson’s prior consent. VIG argued that it had an implied right to assign the know-how because the license agreement permitted VIG to sublicense its rights without Verson’s approval. VIG argued that by permitting VIG to sublicense the know-how, Verson was conceding that the know-how was not highly personal and therefore could be assigned. The court granted VIG’s motion to dismiss Verson’s complaint, and Verson amended its complaint. VIG then filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Moran, J.)
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