Raffel Systems retains former Clinton counsel to pursue further action against Manwah

GERMANTOWN, Wis. — Raffel Systems, Inc. has hired the law firm of Lanny Davis, former counsel to President Bill Clinton, to represent the company in its bid to press a federal investigation into Manwah Holdings LLC’s business practices.

Raffel held a press conference on June 30 to discuss its plans. It announced that Davis’s firm, Davis Goldberg & Galper PLLC, will be pursuing investigations into “illegal and unfair trade practices” with the Federal Trade Commission and the International Trade Commission. Raffel alleges that Manwah is still selling its “counterfeit” lighted cupholder that was found to be in violation of patent law by a federal jury in June.

In addition, the firm indicated that it will pursue a review by the Consumer Products Safety Commission regarding allegations of failed electronics in the copied cupholders.

In mid-June, a federal jury awarded Raffel $8.7 million in damages and an additional $97.5 million in punitive damages for what they found to be Manwah’s willful trade dress infringement, misappropriation of trade dress, false patent marketing and willful patent infringement of Raffel’s patented, lighted cupholder, according to the ruling.

Manwah has previously said that it will appeal the ruling.

The cupholder in question was invented by an employee of Raffel in 2005 and patented in 2010, according to Paul Stangl, executive chairman of Innovative Motion Technologies, who was on the call.

Stangl said that Raffel alleged in its lawsuit that Manwah attempted to pay a low-level Raffel employee $60,000 to say that he had invented the cupholder. Stangl also said that Manwah filed retaliatory lawsuits in China “as a distraction” as soon as Raffel was set to win various legal actions in the U.S. around the infringement case.

Continue reading this article by Furniture Today here.