LONDON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A judge in London has ordered 3M Corp. to pay $1.3 million to Porton Group in a straight forward commercial case that has gotten a little personal.
In 2005, Porton Group purchased a share of the BacLite bacterial test that was meant to detect a sometimes fatal bacteria found in hospitals, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which does not respond well to antibiotic treatments, The New York Times reported Monday.
In 2007, however, 3M purchased the test with payment tied to future sales. Proton Group said , after the deal was signed, 3M failed to promote the products, which caused sales to languish.
3M claims that the test proved unreliable and feared it would not gain regulatory approval. In time, other companies were promoting similar tests, which cut further into the business.
London High Court Justice Nicholas Hamblen sided with Proton, but awarded far less than the $40 million, the company had been seeking.
Essentially, Judge Hamblen agreed the test should have been promoted while acknowledging it had flaws from a commercial point of view.
While Proton Chief Executive Officer Harvey Boulter said, "I am delighted that we have been vindicated," 3M has filed a lawsuit charging Boulter with blackmail.
3M says Boulter threatened to stop its CEO George Buckley's impending knighthood with the use of connections high in the British government.
Buckley was knighted, anyway, but 3M says Boulter threatened to have the knighthood canceled in return for 3M settling the BacLite lawsuit out of court for $30 million.
