KaZee, Inc. v. Univ. of Tex. Med. Branch at Galveston, 4:18-cv-00053 (E.D. Tex.)
On January 19, 2018, KaZee, Inc., a healthcare information technology company, sued the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (“UTMB”) on claims of copyright infringement and breach of a licensing agreement. According to the complaint, the parties entered into a licensing agreement in 1999, allowing UTMB limited use of KaZee’s PEARL software, which is an integrated health records software used by private and government health care providers around the country.
KaZee alleges that the license agreement allowed UTMB to use PEARL only at specific Texas state prisons, and that UTMB violated the agreement by using the PEARL software at locations not listed in the agreement, depriving KaZee of millions of dollars in licensing fees. KaZee asserts that, after learning of UTMB’s possible breach in 2015, UTMB acknowledged years of unauthorized uses of PEARL at federal and county jails and provided KaZee with a list of such unauthorized uses. Although the parties attempted to negotiate and resolve the issue, they were unable to reach a settlement. According to KaZee, UTMB now takes the position that it never breached the license agreement.
KaZee is seeking at least $20 million as damages for UTMB’s unauthorized uses of PEARL as well as attorney’s fees and costs from the litigation.