A U.S. District Court jury has found the creator of the anti-theft automobile device called "The Club" was tricked into signing away his rights to the device.
The verdict, returned Wednesday, resulted in an undisclosed settlement with the man who marketed and profited from the device. The amount of the settlement between inventor Charles Johnson and distributor James Winner Jr. of Sharon, Pa., was not made public. However, a newspaper report indicated it was $10.5 million.Johnson originally wanted $10 million in punitive damages and half of the profits, which an expert witness testified would be at least $68 million.
U.S. District Court Judge David Dowd last week granted a summary judgment in favor of Winner and dismissed a fraud allegation, a separate count in the suit that could have netted the $10 million punitive-damage award for John-son.
The jury verdict, however, eliminated any hope of recovering half the profits.