This winter, Maslon proudly represented Polaroid in a $300 million breach of contract dispute brought by one of its largest licensees. Following a two-week trial, a Hennepin County jury awarded our client a complete defense verdict.

The lawsuit was brought in March 2021 by C&A Marketing, a former licensee and distributor of Polaroid-branded products. The suit claimed breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, and unjust enrichment, among others, against Polaroid related to a 2017 license agreement between the parties.

Specifically, C&A alleged that Polaroid acted in bad faith when, in 2017, it sent C&A a notice of breach and default of the parties’ 2015 license agreement and demanded unpaid royalties for violations committed by C&A. Shortly thereafter, the parties terminated their 2015 license agreement and executed a new one. At trial, C&A sought to prove that it was under economic duress when it accepted what it considered to be unfavorable terms in the 2017 agreement, and that this new agreement resulted in damages of more than $300 million, including lost profits and unjust enrichment.

A team of Maslon attorneys led by Steve Schleicher focused on demonstrating that C&A was not under economic duress when it released its claims against Polaroid and was thus bound to the terms in the parties’ 2017 agreement. Polaroid maintained that it acted fairly toward C&A when it issued the breach letter and in the events that followed. The jury deliberated for less than three hours before awarding a complete defense verdict to Polaroid on the merits of the case.

"From our perspective, the plaintiffs had a very simple factual narrative, while Polaroid had a much more complicated and technical story to tell," said Stephanie Laws, another key member of the Maslon trial team. "We focused extensively on developing trial themes that would distill the story down into a digestible format for the jury and developing factual narratives through witness testimony that supported Polaroid's themes."

Other members of the trial team included attorneys Katie Maechler, Jim Killian, Abbie Maier, Clayton Carlson, Carmen Carballo, Emily Liebman, paralegals Valerie Wolfe and Renee Rice, and legal administrative assistants Paula Rothstein, Tiffany Gau, and Mindy Sweeney. Attorney Jim Long also provided support to the team.

Maslon was proud to support Polaroid against a significant threat, and our client was very pleased with the outcome.