A Florida man has filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Kimberly-Clark Ballard Medical, alleging the company misled the man and deprived him of his product patent and royalties.
Darren Rubin, spokesman for his father/plaintiff Howard Rubin, claimed Ballard Medical Products failed to fulfill sales and marketing obligations outlined in the patent purchase agreement signed when Howard Rubin sold his patent rights to the company in early 1996.Howard Rubin, a certified respiratory therapist, has developed four patents in that field. One of them, an incentive spirometer, was thought to increase muscle strength in the lungs or allow patients to more efficiently inhale medications.
Howard Rubin sold the patent rights to his incentive spirometer device to Ballard Medical in April 1996. The company has since merged with paper products giant Kimberly-Clark.
Darren Rubin said the company failed to follow through on its contractual obligation to vigorously market the product, prompting the lawsuit filed by his father in U.S. District Court in Utah.
The case was originally filed in Pennsylvania, Howard Rubin's former place of residence. He has since relocated to Land O' Lakes, Fla. The Pennsylvania case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, and re-filed in Utah in early September.
Howard Rubin is suing for damages occurring in the years since he sold the patent rights to Ballard. Darren Rubin said those damages could top $1 million.
"They were supposed to put their best efforts forth in selling the product, and they barely did anything with it," Darren Rubin said. "This is a multi-million dollar company, and they only placed a few advertisements. They misled him (Howard Rubin) into entering into the agreement."
Kimberly-Clark spokeswoman Tina Barry said the company has not yet filed its response to the suit. But, she said, "We think the case is without merit, and we are going to defend this suit vigorously."