Jeanne Detch

Cooley obtained a victory for Qualcomm and its executives in a securities class action filed in the Southern District of California. The plaintiffs, relying heavily on “confidential witnesses,” alleged the company misled investors by failing to disclose overheating problems with a high-end chipset and the impending loss of a large customer. Piercing through these allegations, the court granted our motion to dismiss with leave to amend after oral argument. Plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint and we filed and argued another motion to dismiss. The court ultimately granted our second motion to dismiss with prejudice, and the ruling was affirmed on appeal.

Cooley advised Stratasys, a leading 3D printing solutions company, on its successful resolution of an Eighth Circuit appeal. In the decision, a three-judge panel affirmed the dismissal of a securities class action complaint asserting claims under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934.

The lawsuit centered on Stratasys subsidiary MakerBot, a 3D printer manufacturer focused on consumer desktop 3D printing, and MakerBot’s release of its “fifth generation” or “5G” desktop 3D printers in 2014. Plaintiffs claimed that Stratasys’s public statements about the 5G printers were false or misleading.

The lawsuit was originally dismissed by Judge Patrick J. Schiltz of the US District Court for the District of Minnesota. The Eighth Circuit agreed with the lower court that the plaintiffs fell short of adequately pleading their claim.

Stratasys, which trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market as “SSYS,” provides applied additive technology solutions for industries including aerospace, automotive, healthcare, consumer products and education. MakerBot was founded in 2009 and was one of the first companies to make 3D printing accessible and affordable.