Becton Dickinson and Co. v. Reese

HALL, Chief Justice:

Plaintiff Becton Dickinson and Company filed a complaint alleging wrongful conversion of documents and breach of contract against defendant Max G. Reese, a former employee of plaintiff’s. Reese counterclaimed, alleging wrongful conversion of a discovery by him that was thereafter patented by another and subsequently assigned to plaintiff’s predecessor, Auto Assay. Defendant also claimed that ownership of the patent should be in the defendant.

The district court granted summary judgment for the plaintiff on the ground that the claim was barred by Utah’s three-year statute of…