FAIRFIELD, Conn., Sept. 8, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Competitive Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Amex:CTT) announced today that Judge Peter C. Dorsey of the U.S. District Court of the District of Connecticut has ruled favorably on CTT's motion for default judgment against defendants Ben Marcovitch, Agrofrut, E.U., Sheldon Strauss, and Betty Rios Valencia, the President and CEO of Agrofrut and Mr. Marcovitch's former spouse.
The judgment entered against Marcovitch, Rios Valencia, Agrofrut and Strauss, jointly and severally, is for $750,000, as well as reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of $600,788. Additionally, judgments were entered against Marcovitch, Rios Valencia, and Agrofrut, jointly and severally, for $2.25 million, treble damages, and for $600,788, punitive damages. A judgment was also entered against Rios Valencia and Agrofrut, jointly and severally, for punitive damages of $750,000. The judge has confirmed that Marcovitch was properly removed as a member of CTT's Board of Directors and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting Marcovitch from holding himself out as a member of CTT's Board. A judgment was entered against Strauss prohibiting Strauss from soliciting proxies in contravention of the SEC rules and regulations.
In September 2008, CTT received $400,000 from Federal Insurance Co. under its theft insurance policy with Federal. CTT's policy claim resulted from its fraud case against the nutraceutical firm, Agrofrut, E.U., and others.
"This brings to a close CTT's litigation to recover the $750,000 in funds from the Agrofrut option agreement," said John B. Nano, CTT's Chairman, President and CEO. "Based on the Court's rulings, we will now proceed to collect all funds possible from the parties named by the Court. We thank the Court for the actions taken."
CTT filed the complaint on August 31, 2007, in U.S. District Court against Ben Marcovitch and the other co-defendants noted above, stating that the parties, among other things, conspired to fraudulently obtain funds from CTT using a transaction with Agrofrut, a nutraceutical firm brought to CTT by Mr. Marcovitch. An Amended Complaint sought relief from Sheldon Strauss for conspiring with Marcovitch to unlawfully solicit proxies in violation of Section 24(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 14(a) promulgated thereunder.
Mr. Nano added, "CTT continues to aggressively market its portfolio of technologies to drive revenue growth, improve profitability and create shareholder value. Technologies that generate revenue include CTT's pain therapy medical device, bone biomaterial, MPEG-4 image coding and compression, and structural crack detection paint."
About Competitive Technologies, Inc.
Competitive Technologies, established in 1968, provides distribution, patent and technology transfer, sales and licensing services focused on the needs of its customers and matching those requirements with commercially viable product or technology solutions. CTT is a global leader in identifying, developing and commercializing innovative products and technologies in life, electronic, nano, and physical sciences developed by universities, companies and inventors. CTT maximizes the value of intellectual assets for the benefit of its customers, clients and shareholders. Visit CTT's website: www.competitivetech.net. For more information on the pain therapy medical device, visit www.CalmareTT.com.
Statements made about our future expectations are forward-looking statements and subject to risks and uncertainties as described in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2008, filed with the SEC on October 28, 2008, and other filings with the SEC, and are subject to change at any time. Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement.