RE:RE:Was doing some DD and...cryptoisascam wrote:
has nothing to do with AFI you moron. I know you're buying the stock so Shut your face. Go make me a sandwhich poose boi.
Crypto must be Nicky, doesn't want to remember his buddy Robert Abernate from ATT. When you Google Bridgemark Group, both ATT and AFI are involved. Get your head out of the sand Nicky. Medical Marijuana Update: Abattis-Affinor legal update, FITX gets even nuttier
Remember that whole Abattis Bioceuticals/Affinor Growers legal war I said was brewing around mid-2014? The one that Affinor stock holders yelled at me about? The one Affinor (CSE:C.AFI, Stock Forum) boss Nick Brusatore said would never happen? The one they said was all over at the first hurdle in Washington State?
Oh, it ain’t done. Not by a long shot.
For the uninitiated, Brusatore licensed his Vertical Designs Ltd vertical farming technology to Abattis Bioceuticals (CSE:C.ATT, Stock Forum) way back when the green rush was just beginning. VDL had emerged as a Brusatore vehicle after he departed from TerraSphere, where he invented that company’s first forays into vertical growing.
Abattis gave Brusatore a shedload of stock to come on over and be part of their vertical integration play, and he happily accepted, but after an aborted attempt to take over the ship, Brusatore dumped his stock, made a lot of cash, and put it into Affinor where he was given the keys to the executive washroom happily.
When I talked to Brusatore back in the day about what that meant for the tech VDL had licensed to Abattis, he first told me, “We’ll just talk to them and do a deal if we need to use it.” A few weeks later, he said there was no need for such a deal because, “We changed the tech.”
Abattis wasn’t having that, but had no reason to complain since Affinor had switched gears from weed to strawberries. But then Affinor started talked to people at PhytaLab, Abattis’ Washington State-based weed lab, and when those people bailed to start their own company, presumably with Affinor backing (and, Abattis says, with PhytaLab trade secrets), Abattis pulled the legal trigger.
The last week has seen a flurry in this respect.
December 29, from Abattis: “[Abattis] wishes to advise its shareholders that on Monday December 15th the Company obtained a preliminary injunction from the Washington state court in King County against Herbal Analytics, LLC, James Baxter, Kaleb Lund, Lauren Hilty, and Erin Leary, Affinor Growers, LLC, and Nicholas Brusatore.
December 30, from Affinor: “Although the Court technically included Affinor Growers, LLC, and Nick Brusatore, in the preliminary injunction, the Court made no finding that either were involved, assisted, or encouraged anyone to breach a fiduciary duty.”
Later that day, again from Affinor: [Affinor-owned] Vertical Designs Ltd. announced today that they have issued notice of termination of the License Agreement dated December 12, 2012 with Abattis Bioceuticals Corp., on the grounds of material breach of the Licence Agreement by Abbatis. The termination of the License Agreement is effective immediately. Abbatis has been instructed that all confidential materials […] must be returned to VDL offices.”
December 31, from Abattis: “[Abattis] wishes to advise its shareholders that contrary to public assertions made by Vertical Designs Ltd., Abattis does not consider the parties' worldwide exclusive license agreement terminated. The company maintains that it is still the exclusive worldwide holder of VDL technology for growing plants, plant material and extracts grown and produced for use as ingredients in the pharmaceutical, neutraceutical, cosmetic and wellness markets. Abattis will challenge any and all efforts by VDL to terminate the License. […] We see VDL's statements as nothing more than a blatant and unfounded effort to retaliate against Abattis and its shareholders for our legal successes. As I have previously said, Abattis welcomes spirited competition but we will not allow the Company's shareholders to be gamed by schemers. VDL's recent statements are solely meant to detract from Abattis' legal success. I am saddened that we continue to see such schemes and games being played."”
Abattis stock is up today, while Affinor is getting its azz handed to it.
So who is in the right?
Abattis is bolstering itself in respect to a situation I outlined some six months ago, that as Brusatore is a former employee of Terrasphere, and the named inventor of many of its patents, Abattis’ recent move to license Terrasphere technology alongside its existing deal for Brusatore’s VDL tech, mean they’re pretty well ironclad in any lawsuit claiming rights to his vertical grow technology.
Brusatore says any changes to that tech make it new tech, and thus outside the Abattis licensing deal (and any Terrasphere claim).
Abattis says that’s not the case.
If Abattis’ take on this proves true, and it may well go to court to clarify it has secured rights to VDL tech for the previously outlined ‘pharmaceutical, neutraceutical, cosmetic and wellness’ areas. The only area that VDL/Affinor would appear able to use the disputed tech, if Abattis is proved right, is for growing food – and even that is open to debate, depending on your definition of ‘wellness’.
Indeed, insiders suggest the aborted LOI last year where Affinor had negotiated the right to take over Vancouver’s rooftop parking garden facility, only to quietly walk away from it later, is said to have been more about Affinor getting its hands on that facility’s grow tech than it was about ever growing food.
Bottom line? When Pappy Parry tells you a legal fight is brewing, don’t argue with him, just grab your popcorn.