LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found that Chaos Visual Productions (Chaos), its founder John Wiseman and its general manager Valdis Dauksts did not misappropriate any alleged trade secrets of XL Touring Video (XLTV), nor did they breach any fiduciary duty they owed to XLTV, in connection with Wiseman's resignation and formation of Chaos in November of 2008. The jury has yet to rule on Wiseman, Dauksts and Chaos in their counter claim against XLTV. XLTV's original complaint asked for an award of $11 million in actual damages along with punitive damages. However, the jury only awarded $22,894 to XLTV, which represented the amount the jury felt Wiseman had inappropriately charged to XLTV while under XLTV's employ. XLTV originally asked for $237,000 in inappropriate charges.
The verdict marked the culmination of a more than six-week trial based on XLTV's claim Mr. Wiseman, Mr. Dauksts and Chaos had misappropriated XLTV's "trade secrets." XLTV claimed design specifications, system specifications and concert touring details of 28 musical artists as its "trade secrets." XLTV additionally claimed breaches of fiduciary duty by Wiseman and Dauksts for XLTV's declining revenues after leaving XLTV.
Wiseman stated, "I am thankful and gratified for the jury's hard work and their final determination that Val and I did not steal any alleged trade secrets or breached any duty we owed XLTV in connection with my resignation and subsequent founding of Chaos. We would like to express our greatest gratitude to the dozens of friends and colleagues in the industry who took time out of their busy schedules to testify on our behalf. Their testimony provided the keystone of our defense that our industry is based on relationships and it is truly the client who decides who they want to work with. For me personally, this 18-month chapter has taken the fun and camaraderie out of the business. But now that is behind us, we are anxious to get back to work and to move on with our lives. We wish XLTV the best in all of their endeavors. I just want to get back to running shows and keeping my clients happy."
The court still must determine entitlement to court costs and attorneys fees along with an outstanding dispute as to XLTV's obligation to pay Wiseman for stock earned during his 4 years tenure with the company. The court reconvenes December 6, 2010 to discuss the scheduling for all remaining issues. As for the loose ends that remain, Mr. Wiseman states: "We hope the remaining outstanding issues can be swiftly and fairly resolved so that this chapter in both company's lives can be brought to a close."
