Weingarten Brown LLP: District Court Denies CatchPlay’s Motion to Dismiss SSG’s Counterclaims

April 8, 2013 - PRLog -- Weingarten Brown LLP announced today that client Studio Solutions Group, Inc. (SSG) secured another victory in its ongoing litigation against Taiwan-based film distributor CatchPlay, Inc.  Federal District Court Judge George H. Wu denied CatchPlay’s motion to dismiss eight counterclaims that seek to hold CatchPlay accountable for its misconduct and interference with SSG’s film distribution efforts in Taiwan.  In addition, the Court flatly rejected CatchPlay’s attempt to dismiss the claims under California’s Anti-SLAPP statute.

In February, Beverly Hills-based SSG asserted counterclaims against CatchPlay for breach of contract, trade libel, defamation, antitrust violations, tortious interference with contact, unfair business practices, and others stemming from CatchPlay’s improper conduct.

As the case moves forward, SSG intends to prove that CatchPlay unlawfully interfered with SSG’s licensing agreements with movie studios, persuaded the Taiwanese Film Trade Association to deny SSG film distribution certificates required to conduct business in Taiwan, and caused SSG to lose millions of dollars in damages due to breaches of contract.

“Unable to secure film titles in the marketplace through fair competition, CatchPlay resorted to tortious interference with SSG’s contracts and business relations, defamed SSG, and engaged in unlawful and anti-competitive actions,” explained Alex Weingarten, lead counsel for SSG. “Furthermore, CatchPlay used contacts in Taiwan to orchestrate a boycott of SSG’s business in an unlawful effort to destroy the competition and made patently false statements about my client in an underhanded attempt to sour SSG’s close relationships with top industry players.  We plan to hold CatchPlay fully accountable for its outrageous conduct.”

CatchPlay is owned by Smartphone giant HTC founder and Taiwanese billionaire Cher Wang.  The case is CatchPlay, Inc. v. Studio Solutions Group, Inc., CV12-07525-GW (C.D. Cal. 2012).

About Weingarten Brown LLP (www.wbllp.com)

Weingarten Brown LLP is a Los Angeles-based law firm of business trial lawyers with sterling credentials, having graduated from top law schools and formerly practiced with some of the nation’s most prestigious law firms.  The firm’s practice emphasizes entertainment, antitrust, technology, corporate, finance, securities, insurance coverage, intellectual property, and real estate litigation.  The firm represents clients in forums across the nation.