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A check for more than $5.3 million was received Monday by the Kosciusko county clerk until the rights of the parties can be determined in an interpleader complaint.
The case was filed on behalf of DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. by its attorneys, Donald E. Knebel and Howard E. Kochell of Barnes & Thornburg, Indianapolis, and touches on patents, licensing and royalties. The defendants in the case are Biomedical Engineering Trust Buechel-Pappas Trust, both of which are located either in New Jersey or Florida; Frederick F. Buechel and R. Gale Rhodes Jr., both of New Jersey or Florida; Michael J. Pappas, John N. Bain, John G. Gilfillan III, all of New Jersey; and Paul A. Witte, Pennsylvania.
The matter was filed in Kosciusko Circuit Court, which has jurisdiction over this dispute because, according to court documents, it involves competing claims to property situated in Indiana. DePuy is headquartered in Warsaw.
The money, paid by DePuy to the court, is due to one or more of the defendants, but there are conflicting or competing claims to the funds. The lawsuit is a way for the judge to hear each of the defendants' claims and determine who gets what amount. An interpleader is a proceeding in which two or more parties make the same claim against a third party and the court must determine the rightful claimant(s).
Two license agreements, as well as an amendment to the second agreement, exist and are filed as exhibits with the case.
DePuy is seeking that the court:
• Restrain the defendants from instituting any action against it until the issues raised by this lawsuit are resolved;
• Require each of the defendants to assert his or its rights to the funds;
• Declare ownership of devices and technology developed by Buechel and/or Pappas;
• Order an accounting and refund of royalties paid by DePuy in respect to devices or technology not covered by the second license agreement;
• Discharge any further liability by contract, or otherwise, in respect to the funds deposited with the court; and
• Award court costs and attorney fees.
