Trial Date Set For Copyright Infringement Case Involving US Playing Card Company - Division of the Jarden Corporation (NYSE: JAH)

Trial Date Set For Copyright Infringement Case Involving US Playing Card Company - Division of the Jarden Corporation (NYSE: JAH) 

Trial Date Set For Copyright Infringement Case Involving US Playing Card Company - Division of the Jarden Corporation (NYSE: JAH)

WEBWIRE – Monday, November 19, 2007

CINCINNATI, Ohio (November 19, 2007) - A trial by jury date has been set in Federal District Court - Ohio, for the copyright infringement case involving the US Playing Card Company and Florida resident and inventor Michael Faessler. The trial will begin January 14, 2008.

The case was filed in September 2005, and alleges that USPC copied Faessler’s Military Playing Card line by selling Patriotic Playing Cards in mass retail markets within the military PX system (Faessler v USPC). Faessler has four registered copyrights, and sold his line to the PXs between 1995 and 2001.

The case is sizing up to be a classic "David v Goliath" battle, with Faessler a military veteran and West Point graduate going up against giants of industry. US Playing Card is a division of the Jarden Corporation (NYSE: JAH), with annual revenues of $5.6B. The military PX system is not yet named as an infringing party in this case, but could be named in a subsequent case for their obvious role in selling the cards. The PX’s have combined annual revenues of $9B.

Faessler states, "This behavior by USPC is not new. In 2004 they did basically the same thing to another small inventor, Kim Simmons (Simmons v. USPC & Wal-Mart). Ironically, this was a fact that USPC conveniently forgot to disclose in official documents to the court. I’m not sure if that played some role in USPC’s sudden decision to fire CEO Jason Lockwood, on the morning of my deposition" Faessler has placed all court filings and photos of the playing cards on www.FAESSLERvUSPC.com .

Documents filed by Faessler indicate they now allege 9 counts of infringement by USPC. By law, statutory damages could be up to $150,000 per infringement, or a maximum of $1.35M for USPC.

To find out more, please visit www.FAESSLERvUSPC.com.

Trial Date Set For Copyright Infringement Case Involving US Playing Card Company - Division of the Jarden Corporation (NYSE: JAH)