PPP Equipment Corporation (PPP-E) Official Believes GT Solar Suit

Tag : Used Chemical Equipment
Burbank-based PPPEquipment Corporation President Dan Feinberg stated today hisbelief that the allegations in a recently-filed lawsuit by GT Solaragainst a senior PPP-E official for improper disclosure ofconfidential information, "are false and baseless."
GT Solar, a Merrimack, New Hampshire-based company, filed the caseagainst PPP-E Vice President, Fabrizio Goi, a resident of Milan,Italy.
"Anyone can file a frivolous case," Mr. Feinberg said.
PPP-E is one of the leading designers, producers and sellers ofChemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) reactors and converter systems thatproduce high-purity polysilicon used to produce wafers for theproduction of solar cells and silicon chips. It is believed thatthe market for these products and services knows that PPP-E has aunique, high-productivity, highly-efficient CVD Reactor designproviding higher product output with lower consumption ofelectricity than competitors, including GT Solar.
The lawsuit, which was filed in New Hampshire U.S. District Courton June 20, charged Mr. Goi with improper disclosure to PPP-E ofproprietary and confidential information that he allegedly receivedfrom GT Solar. However, Mr. Feinberg reiterated his belief thatthese charges are "false and unsubstantiated."
Lanny J. Davis, one of the attorneys at Orrick, Herrington &Sutcliffe LLP representing PPP-E and Mr. Goi, questioned why GTSolar would file this lawsuit against Mr. Goi, an Italian resident,under these circumstances. According to Mr. Goi, he has been to NewHampshire for one day in his life, about two years ago. This was,Mr. Davis stated, during a one-day visit to GT Solar at its officein Merrimack, N.H. while Mr. Goi was working for his prior employerin Italy.
"It is our understanding that neither during that single, one-dayvisit in August 2006, or on any other occasion, was proprietary orconfidential proprietary information from GT Solar imparted ordisclosed to others by Mr. Goi," Mr. Davis said. "Nor is it ourunderstanding that, contrary to an allegation in the GT suit, Mr.Goi shared with anyone else any such confidential informationobtained from his prior employer."
Mr. Davis noted that Mr. Goi had substantial years of experience inthe design and fabrication of different types of polysiliconreactors before he visited GT Solar and before GT Solar had enteredthis market.
"I wonder whether GT Solar filed this lawsuit in New Hampshireagainst an Italian resident, which was immediately reported in thelocal newspaper even before Mr. Goi was notified of the suit, morein order to launch a false and misleading media campaign toundermine a competitor with a superior product than to pursue aclaim in the courts," Mr. Davis added.
Mr. Davis warned that GT Solar may be opening itself to potentialliability to PPP-E for tortious interference with PPP-E'scustomers.
He said he is "confident" that the GT Solar case will be dismissedor fail on the merits.
Mr. Davis served as Special Counsel to President Clinton between1996-98, acting as spokesperson for the President on mattersconcerning the campaign finance investigations and other legalissues. In 2005-06, he served on the 5-member White House Privacyand Civil Liberties Oversight Board, appointed by President GeorgeW. Bush. The Board was recommended by the 9/11 Commission andcreated by the 2004 Intelligence Reform Act.
Mr. Davis has been an experienced litigator in Washington DC forover 25 years and has recently specialized in legal media-impactissues and strategic legal communications with a group of Orricklawyers with similar skills and backgrounds.