HouseCanary Awarded $706.2 Million Jury Verdict In IP Theft Case Against Amrock
Mar 15, 2018, 08:44 ET
SAN ANTONIO, March 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A Texas state court jury unanimously awarded HouseCanary, Inc. $706.2 million in compensatory and punitive damages in a trial against Amrock Inc. — part of the Quicken Loans family of companies — after finding that HouseCanary's real estate valuation and analytics trade secrets, proprietary systems, and data were fraudulently misappropriated by Amrock. Amrock was previously named Title Source, Inc.
The jury's decision came after nearly seven weeks of trial between the parties, with the jury concluding that Amrock had misappropriated HouseCanary's trade secrets, engaged in fraud and breached its prior contracts with HouseCanary.
Jeremy Sicklick, co-founder and CEO of HouseCanary, commented, "We are pleased that the jury recognized the value of our cutting-edge real estate analytics. HouseCanary has built industry-leading proprietary models, predictive analytics and valuation technologies to completely disrupt the real estate sector. The verdict validates the value of our trade secrets, and it reflects our commitment to protect our technology and our position as leader in the valuation technology and real estate data analytics market."
Landmark Verdict for Trade Secret Misappropriation
Amrock originally filed its case in the District Court of Bexar County, Texas, as a declaratory judgment claiming contract breach against HouseCanary.
Through review of evidence, however, it became apparent that Amrock had inappropriately used its access to HouseCanary's technology and data to engage in reverse engineering and to develop its own competing analytics and software products.
Max L. Tribble, lead counsel of Susman Godfrey L.L.P., commented, "Amrock thought they could mislead and confuse the jury by bringing meritless contract breach claims against HouseCanary. But the evidence showed exactly what happened and who was actually harmed. And the jury saw the real story. As a result, they rejected every claim that Amrock brought against HouseCanary and made a powerful statement by awarding HouseCanary with a landmark verdict."
Lead counsel for HouseCanary were Max L. Tribble and Kalpana Srinivasan at Susman Godfrey L.L.P. and Ricardo G. Cedillo of Davis, Cedillo & Mendoza, Inc. HouseCanary's strategic litigation advisors were Mark Dyne and Murray Markiles of Europlay Capital Advisors, LLC.
About HouseCanary
Founded in 2013, HouseCanary's mission is to help people make better real estate decisions. Built on a foundation of great data, powerful models, and predictive analytics, the HouseCanary platform aggregates millions of data elements, including more than four decades of property data and a rapidly expanding arsenal of proprietary calculations and analytics, to accurately define and forecast values and market influences. HouseCanary is financed by notable investors including Hillspire (Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt's family office), PSP Growth/PSP Capital (firm founded by entrepreneur and former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker), Alpha Edison, ECA Ventures, Raven Ventures, and other top Silicon Valley investors. The company is headquartered in San Francisco. www.housecanary.com.
| Contact:
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| HouseCanary, Inc. |
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| Public Relations |
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| 855-218-9597 |
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| Sitrick And Company |
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| Seth Lubove |
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| 310-788-2850 |
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| Susman Godfrey L.L.P. |
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| Max L. Tribble |
Kalpana Srinivasan |
| 713-291-1991 |
310-980-1611 |
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Europlay Capital Advisors, LLC |
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| Mark Dyne |
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| 818-444-4411 |
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SOURCE HouseCanary