Item 1. Legal Proceedings
ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Litigation with Pharmaceutical Research Associates Group B.V., acquired by ICON plc as of July 1, 2021, (ICON/PRA Netherlands)
On November 23, 2022, we filed a petition requesting leave for a prejudgment attachment of all relevant documents in possession of Pharmaceutical Research Associates Group B.V., acquired by ICON plc as of July 1, 2021, (ICON/PRA Netherlands), which was granted on November 28, 2022, by the District Court of Northern Netherlands. A representative of the District Court served ICON/PRA Netherlands with the prejudgment attachment on or about December 7 and 8, 2022. The case was formally introduced to the Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC) on December 28, 2022 and a hearing by the NCC to determine whether we are entitled to take possession of the records seized was scheduled and held on March 16, 2023.
On April 21, 2023, the NCC issued a judgement affirming our ownership of the physical documents, including 51 hardcopy folders and certain digital files, related to the clinical studies performed by ICON/PRA Netherlands and seized by the Dutch courts in December 2022. The NCC further ordered ICON/PRA Netherlands to allow and tolerate the surrender of the documents, including digital and source data. Additionally, the NCC found that we are not in breach of any obligation under the clinical study agreement and ICON/PRA Netherlands had no basis to suspend the fulfillment of its obligations under the clinical study agreement to provide us all clinical data and access to perform an audit of the study. On June 15, 2023, ICON/PRA Netherlands filed an appeal of this decision and requested a scheduling hearing with the NCC, which occurred on September 23, 2024.
The hearing addressing our claims for damages was conducted on December 7, 2023. On February 7, 2024, the NCC issued a judgement in which they found that, although all data related to the study is the rightful property of DiaMedica, they found that there was an insufficient causal link between ICON/PRA Netherlands withholding study data and the damages claimed by us. We have notified the NCC and ICON/PRA Netherlands of our intent to appeal this decision and submitted our statement of grounds for appeal on October 15, 2024. The NCC has issued a decision to consolidate both appeals and evaluate them concurrently at a single hearing currently scheduled for March 2025.
From time to time, we may be subject to other various ongoing or threatened legal actions and proceedings, including those that arise in the ordinary course of business, which may include employment matters and breach of contract disputes. Such matters are subject to many uncertainties and to outcomes that are not predictable with assurance and that may not be known for extended periods of time. Other than the ICON/PRA Netherlands matter noted above, we are not currently engaged in or aware of any threatened legal actions.
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