BPS sues Blue Phoenix Inashco for alleged NDA violations

Ohio-based Best Process Solutions (BPS) has filed suit in a United States district court alleging Maryland-based Blue Phoenix Inashco has violated the terms of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) between the two firms.

The complaint, filed in late March in the northern district of the Eastern Ohio division of the U.S. District Court system, recounts previous efforts by the two firms to work together on installations to use the BPS RecoverMax Fines Process to recover metals from incinerator bottom ash.

According to the complaint, Blue Phoenix Inashco signed an agreement to purchase a RecoverMax system and to license the BPS RecoverMax technology in two U.S. states and several overseas countries.

In North America, Blue Phoenix Inashco installed RecoverMax technology at a location in Connecticut but expressed dissatisfaction with the results. The two companies ended their cooperation and, according to the legal complaint filed by BPS, signed a Mutual Release and Termination Agreement. According to BPS, the agreement held that a previously signed NDA would “survive the termination of the RecoverMax agreement and shall continue until August 3, 2031.”

Subsequently, according to BPS, Blue Phoenix installed Palla equipment, which originates in Europe, in Connecticut and at another location. BPS contends in those installations, Blue Phoenix Inashco has been engaged to “accomplish the same results as the RecoverMax system using the Palla Mill system and additional components from the same vendors used by BPS.”

BPS says it “has suffered financial damages in an amount greater than $50 million [as] a result of Inashco’s improper use of its trade secrets.”