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Inventor ordered to jail for contempt of court
(Salt Lake Tribune, The Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 24--A long-running business dispute over a company that manufactures artificial fingernails has landed a former Utahn in the Salt Lake County jail.
Third District Judge Robert Faust this week ordered Craig Patrick Gifford -- a dentist who developed a process for manufacturing fake nails and a litigant in two lawsuits over ownership of the technology -- to serve 30 days behind bars for contempt of court.
At a Tuesday hearing, Faust ruled that Gifford had failed to turn over all information to a court-appointed receiver. Gifford, who previously lived in the Salt Lake Valley and now resides in Texas, began his jail sentence Wednesday.
The litigation stems from a proposed merger in early 2006 of Artificial Nail, a company founded by Gifford, with Flowering Scents LLC, a Nevada business. Artificial Nail says the deal never went through. Flowering Scents said it did and that a new company called Sevea was formed.
The disagreement evolved into two lawsuits, with Flowering Scents suing Gifford and his investors in Utah's 3rd District Court, and Artificial Nail suing Flowering Scents in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.
The two sides are arguing over whether the merger was completed, who owns the technology to manufacture precision-fit artificial fingernails and whether Gifford entered into a no-compete agreement.
In addition, the Flowering Scents side claims the Artificial Nail side deliberately destroyed evidence. A computer expert testified Tuesday that 224,000 files had been deleted from a laptop used by Gifford.
Katie and Jerry Saxton, a couple who invested in Gifford's pending nail technology patent, say no evidence was destroyed.
Jerry Saxton said Gifford removed family photos and personal information from the computer. Then, Saxton said, Gifford turned over some remaining information to the receiver and some, relating to his pending patents, to an Artificial Nail lawyer. Saxton said a federal court ruling gave Artificial Nail ownership of the patents and that Gifford had the right to protect his invention by giving the information to the company. The 52-year-old dentist has said he turned over all critical information.
Faust ruled that giving the information to the Artificial Nail lawyer was not a defense. The judge took under consideration the issue of whether evidence had been destroyed.
pmanson@sltrib.com
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