We have three quick updates from that Philly-based founder’s suit over allegedly stolen intellectual property and an initial coin offering (ICO).
In case you missed our last dispatch: Bryan Doreian, cofounder of El3ven, is suing Vancouver-based blockchain technology company Vanbex. Doreian claims the company stole his intellectual property and used it to set up an ICO called Etherparty, which has so far raised over a reported $30 million.
The case is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
A response from Canada
In an email sent to Technical.ly on Thursday, we got a comment from Vanbex.
“As a matter of corporate policy, we do not comment on pending litigation,” said Todd Hauptman, PR manager for the Vancouver company. “After the litigation is complete, we will have further comment.”
Hauptman also sent us two documents from the court that’s dealing with the case. Both are denials to Elev3n’s request to get a restraining order over the Etherparty ICO, which is still active. One, dated Sept. 29; the other, Oct. 3.
A defamation suit
Vanbex and its CEO, Kevin Hobbs, are suing Kip Warner, former Vanbex director of engineering who is listed as a declarant in the El3ven lawsuit on the plaintiff’s side, for defamation.
In Vanbex Group Inc. and Kevin Hobbs v. Kipling Conrad Singh Warner, publicly listed in the Vancouver Registry, Hobbs claims his former employee breached an independent contractor agreement, unlawfully solicited Vanbex’s customers and business and published “injurious falsehoods and defamation.”
We reached out to Vanbex for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
An expert’s dismissal
Wharton professor Kevin Werbach, a business and technology scholar, took a look at the case and shared a lukewarm impression.
“It sounds like a garden variety business dispute,” Werbach said. “Substitute ‘website’ for ‘ICO’ for what the defendant was supposed to build, and see if anything at all changes in the lawsuit.”
Werback said the SEC issues pertain to the responsibilities of companies launching ICOs to their investors.
“Unless I’m missing something, this suit wouldn’t have anything to do with that,” he said.
Google Supreme Court of Canada 33808: “In April of 2005, Mr. Hobbs purchased a return ticket to Vancouver departing from Halifax the following day. At the time, he was under police surveillance and was observed checking a piece of luggage at the airport check-in counter. His suitcase was tracked and placed with other randomly selected luggage processed for the same flight. A police sniffer dog pointed to the bag tagged with Mr. Hobbs’ name and it was seized. The police suspected that it contained narcotics or money contaminated with narcotics. They obtained a search warrant and discovered clothing and $32,000 in cash inside. A subsequent scan of the clothing and suitcase indicated the presence of cocaine. In July of 2005, Mr. Hobbs was arrested in a hotel room New York City, where the police found 100 pounds of marihuana and $178,000 US. After serving pre-trial time in prison there, Mr. Hobbs pled guilty to a felony conviction for possession of marihuana. In August of 2005, the police executed a search warrant on a house leased to Mr. Hobbs in Halifax, where they discovered a marihuana grow operation in the basement. He was charged with possession for the purposes of trafficking and production of marihuana. Later that month, Mr. Hobbs was charged with possessing and transporting the proceeds of crime with respect to the money in the suitcase.”