Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. University of California Regents
(Property Rec., CA Superior Ct. 1995 Def. Verdict) Related Cases: Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. WilliamsThis property recovery suit was brought by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. against the Regents of the University of California on February 14, 1995.
The plaintiff claimed specific recovery of personal property/conversion. It alleged that the defendant was in possession of a number confidential documents owned by the plaintiff and subject to attorney-client and work product privileges as trade secrets. These documents were given over to the defendant through Mr. Williams, who obtained them illegally from Brown & Williamson. The plaintiff sought return of the documents, and declarative relief regarding its rights to inspect the Library Records of the defendant.
The case was heard in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco (Case No. 967298) before the Honorable Stuart R. Pollak. In a bench trial, the judge said retention of privileged information did not constitute a conversion and for that reason the defendant was permitted to retain a copy of the documents so long as the originals were returned. The judge characterized the rest of the plaintiff's request as a request for equitable relief to enjoin dissemination, which it weighed based on the factors of the particular situation and found inappropriate on May 25, 1995. The parties stipulated to a dismissal without an appeal, and dismissal was entered on November 28, 1995.