Supreme Court to Decide Future of Suit Against Lockheed
Lockheed Martin Corp. failed to stop a lawsuit that accuses the world’s largest defense contractor of undercutting satellite contracts between a Russian company and a small Los Angeles firm.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider an appeal by Semtek International Inc., which seeks to pursue a case it filed in a Maryland state court. The company at one point sought $100 million from Lockheed Martin.
The court’s decision to take the case revives Semtek’s second legal bid to get compensation for the collapse of its planned joint venture with Russia’s Merkuriy Ltd. The venture would have let Semtek use Russian satellites to sell voice, video and data-transmission services at what it hoped would be cut-rate prices.
Lower courts threw out the earlier lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, citing California’s two-year statute of limitations. Semtek then tried again with an identical suit in Maryland, where the statute of limitations is three years.
A Maryland appeals court said that it was bound by the ruling in the California case and that Semtek couldn’t sue in Maryland. The high court is being asked to determine whether the Maryland court is bound by the California ruling.
Closely held Semtek signed a series of agreements from 1992 to 1994 in a bid to set up a joint venture with Merkuriy, which had been designated by Russia’s space agency to market satellite technology for commercial use.
The lawsuit claims Martin Marietta Technologies Inc., now part of Lockheed Martin, used a middleman to persuade Merkuriy to break off its negotiations with Semtek. Martin Marietta and Transworld Communications Inc. eventually struck their own accord with the Russian company to provide financing and marketing for the Luch I satellite.
Lockheed Martin has denied any wrongdoing, saying its agreement with Merkuriy doesn’t involve the satellites Semtek was discussing with the Russian company.
Lockheed shares rose 63 cents to close at $24.81 on the New York Stock Exchange.
