CASE REPORT
Atturo Tire Corp. v Toyo Tire Corp., Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. 14C-206 Tried Sep. 16-22, 2021
VERDICT: $110,000,000: $10,000,000 compensatory damages, $100,000,000 punitive damages.
Brian Bianco Brian Bianco chairs the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Akerman LLP. He is a reg- istered patent lawyer and intellectual prop- erty litigator. He has represented clients in courts across the country in complex com- mercial disputes involving patent, trade- mark, and trade dress issues. Brian received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana in 2000 and his law de- gree, cum laude, from the University of Illi- nois College of Law in 2003.
JUDGE: Mary M. Rowland (USDC IL NE)
PLTF ATTY(S): Brian C. Bianco, Julia R. Lissner, Jay M. Schafer of Akerman LLP (Chicago, IL) DEFT ATTY(S): Matthew B. Lowrie, Kimberly K. Dodd, John W. Custer of Foley & Lardner (Boston, MA), Gary E. Hood, Mark T. Deming of Polsinelli P.C. (Chicago, IL) for both defts PLTF EXPERT(S): Kent Stevens, 150 N. Michigan Ave., #2800, Chicago, IL (312-291-4494) (Attorney); Brian M. Daniel (Business Valuation) DEFT EXPERT(S): Larry Shatzer, 1455 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, #400, Washing- ton, DC (202-621-1872) (Attorney) for both defts Toyo Tire is a multinational tire and rubber products company based in Japan. Atturo Tire is a tire company based in Waukegan with approximately 20 employees. This case was initially filed by Toyo against Atturo and another company for alleged trade dress infringement and design patent infringement. Atturo was granted summary judgment in 2021 and this case was tried on Attu- ro’s counterclaim against Toyo for deceptive trade practices and tortious busi- ness interference. Atturo argued Toyo misrepresented to Atturo’s customers that Atturo’s Trail Blade M/T tires violated Toyo’s trade dress rights in its Open Country Mountain Tires. The jury found in favor of Atturo on six counts: tortious interference with existing contract, tortious interference with prospective busi- ness expectancy, defamation, unfair competition, unjust enrichment, and viola- tion of the Illinois Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The jury found in favor of Toyo on Atturo’s count alleging Lanham Act violation. For more information about this case, see the October 1, 2021, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin article.
Julie Lissner Julia Lissner focuses her practice on busi- ness litigation, intellectual property litiga- tion, and other complex commercial dis- putes. Julia was named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under Hot List” of 2022 and is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America trial lawyer honorary society. Julia earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Northwestern University in 2004. She received her J.D. with honors from Chicago- Kent College of Law in 2007.
JURY VERDICT REPORTER • 2022 ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYER EXCELLENCE AWARDS 81
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