Trade show firm sues ex-manager

A Las Vegas trade show exhibit company sued its former manager, claiming she stole trade secrets to help her husband set up a rival company.

Skyline Displays Inc. and its subsidiary Skyservice Inc. sued Chrisa J. Chen, her husband Leslie Francis Chen, a couple Zol and Chris Harvey and SKY I&D LLC. Leslie Chen and Zol Harvey own SKY I&D.

The U.S. District Court suit said the defendants infringed Skyline's trademark by forming SKY I&D, which the plaintiffs claim is confusingly similar to their marks SKYLINE and SKYLINE DISPLAYS.

Skyservice stores Skyline's and their customers' trade show exhibits, ships and arranges for their installation, dismantling and return to Skyservice's Las Vegas warehouse.

The plaintiffs allege the defendants pirated their customers and learned of this when several of Skyservice's customers wrote in shortly after Chrisa Chen's departure on Aug. 27, requesting their trade show exhibits be removed from its asset management program and transfered to the defendants' agents.

The suit said Chen allegedly breached an agreement to safeguard and protect Skyservice's trade secrets because she had allegedly leaked such information to the defendants and used its customer records to solicit purchases of SKY I&D's products from the plaintiffs' customers.

The suit said Chen became general manager of Skyservice's Las Vegas Service Group Depot in July 1998 when Skyservice acquired all the rights from Skyline to provide rental and asset management services to owners of trade show exhibits manufactured by Skyline Displays.

"The law firm will defend the action and take all steps to prosecute any necessary counterclaims," said John Benedict, the defendants' attorney.

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