SCOOP!

PowerLogix, Inc. sued Total Impact, Inc. to prevent any unauthorized distribution of PowerLogix's G3 CPU card technology and received a temporary restraining order (TRO) in Texas State Court on Friday. Macs Only! posted the story on Saturday and obtained a copy of the TRO.

The TRO was issued by Judge Pete Lowry after a hearing on Thursday. Judge Lowry found that PowerLogix would likely succeed on the case's merits and that irreparable harm would come to PowerLogix if Total Impact were not immediately restrained. He further set February 12th as the hearing date for Total Impact to show cause why it should not be permanently sanctioned.

The suit stems from allegations that Total Impact abrogated an October 16, 1997 Mutual License Agreement between PowerLogix and Total Impact by, among other things, sublicensing to a third party without compensating PowerLogix. The irreparable harm was based on imminent shipments of unauthorized PowerLogix technology from Total Impact to Mactell and Interex.

Total Impact was specifically ordered to pay the Court any proceeds from PowerLogix technology, to inform its "partners" of the TRO terms, to remit to the Court all PowerLogix technology-related material and to stop using and direct its "partners" from using PowerLogix technology. PowerLogix posted an $80,000 bond with the Court on Friday to allow the TRO to take effect.

What does all this mean? Robert Jagitsch, President of PowerLogix, contacted by Macs Only! stated that "Total agreed to manufacture a fix-speed G3 card based on our design to be sold only under their name to their existing dealer base, and it was primarily to be done as an accessory sale to their high-end multiprocessor products. Instead, they duplicated our variable speed program and started trying to license the product to every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the mainstream market. On top of that, they never delivered the technology that was to be traded to us in the first place in exchange for the G3 technology." The cards affected are Total Impact's PowerUP 750 and Mactell's PowerJolt G3 according to Mr. Jagitsch. "Certainly Total is responsible [if the affected cards are distibuted].... We are assuming Mactell entered into the agreement with Total in good faith, not knowing that Total's license had been terminated. We purchased a Mactell card and it indeed is our card design." he stated. Total Impact has not yet responded to Macs Only!'s request for comments.