Article Title: Trademark Properties wins $4 million verdict against A&E

Excerpt: In a case that ended Wednesday in federal court, a jury awarded James Island-based Trademark Properties a $4 million verdict in its lawsuit against the cable network A&E. Trademark Properties sued the network in 2006 for breach of contract, saying A&E refused to split revenue as promised from the show Flip this House, which focused on the local real estate company during its first season. Richard Davis, president of Trademark Properties, said the network had established an oral agreement with him to divide profits equally. Davis says he was a creator, writer and co-producer of the show, which featured his company’s buying, repairing and selling of homes. In court documents, A&E argued that the network never had the agreement Davis referenced. In a counterclaim, the network said Davis breached the only agreement the two parties had, which was for him to appear in a second season of the show. “It has always been understood by all parties, including Davis and Trademark, that AETN (A&E Television Networks) exercises final creative authority over Flip this House, owns all legal rights in the show and receives and controls all revenues associated with the show,” the network said in its original answer to the lawsuit. “AETN and Davis reached only one agreement, and Davis broke it.” The jury returned the $4 million verdict Wednesday after five hours of deliberation, according to Trademark Properties. “I feel personally vindicated by the jury’s verdict finding that I have always had an agreement with A&E,” Davis said in a statement. “This victory is much bigger than me. This verdict makes it clear that if a network uses and profits from someone’s concept for a television show, they need to pay for it. I am thankful that we were able to win one for the little guy.” “I’m very pleased with the verdict,” Frank Cisa, local attorney for Davis, said in a statement. “These cases are very tough to prove.” Attorneys for A&E could not be reached for comment Thursday morning. The verdict included $3.9 million in damages for the show’s first season and $107,726 in damages for international revenues, court documents show. After leaving A&E, Davis and his real estate team partnered with TLC to create The Real Deal, another show about flipping homes. A&E continues its show without Trademark Properties.

Article Title: Davis 'thankful' for verdict in case against A&E

Excerpt: One day after winning a $4 million federal jury verdict over a cable television network, Charleston real estate investor Richard C. Davis released a written statement Thursday saying he was "thankful to win one for the little guy." Davis had claimed that A∓E Television had agreed verbally to a 50-50 profit-sharing agreement with him and his James Island company, Trademark Properties Inc., from the reality series "Flip This House." A&E denied any such agreement existed and said a 50-50 split was unheard of in the TV industry. A 12-person jury in Charleston on Wednesday awarded Davis more than $4 million in damages, ending a trial that began Nov. 3. "I feel personally vindicated by the jury's verdict finding that I have always had an agreement with A&E. This victory is much bigger than me. This verdict makes it clear that if a network uses and profits from someone's concept for a television show, they need to pay for it. I am thankful that we were able to win one for the little guy," Davis said in his statement. A spokesman for A&E said the network will seek to reverse the verdict.

Article Title: Summary Judgment Motion Hearing

Excerpt: A&E/Departure argues that there was no written contract, that the verbal contract to split profits didn’t contain the terms that Richard Davis and Trademark claim, and that Richard Davis has been inconsistent in even his understanding of the agreement.

Excerpt: "It’s been brought to my attention that there is a web blog entitled Flip This Lawsuit....But it just felt like that it is such a serious matter and such an unthinkable thing for a litigant to do in this court, that it needed to be commented on. I mean, we are not in Boy Scout camp; we are in serious court here and we don’t do business that way. And I’m not going to permit litigants in this case to do business in that way. Okay?"

Excerpt: I’m a fan, and one that was incredibly pissed off by the actions of A&E on the first night of season two. Not only did they deceive me, as a viewer, about what I was about to see by running only ads for Trademark Properties, but when I went to their website - to the place that they set aside for viewer discussion - I quickly found that my voice, and the voice of others who disliked the new cast or simply wanted to learn more information about the change, were quickly edited with the delete button. This heavy-handed moderation continues to this day, and I feel it only appropriate to provide a forum for open discussion of not only the lawsuit but also the subsequent developments in both television shows, Flip This House and The Real Estate Pros / The Real Deal.

Article Title: 'Flip This House' lawsuit to go to trial

Excerpt: U.S. District Court Judge C. Weston Houck ruled Wednesday that there's enough evidence to suggest that the two sides made a verbal agreement to equally share profits from the show.

Excerpt: A&E, which aired the real estate show until last summer, has said it never agreed to share revenue with Davis. He sued A&E last July, alleging that the network took his idea for "Flip This House" and did not pay him and his company their share. Davis is seeking damages in excess of $1 million.

Excerpt: Davis's attorney, Frank Cisa of Mount Pleasant, pointed in court to e-mails and other communications between Davis and A&E that made repeated references to the arrangement. Houck ruled that there was sufficient evidence that an oral agreement was reached. "I don't believe it needs to be in writing for it to be enforceable," he said.

Article Title: A&E Dumped Richard Davis And Trademark For Con-Man?

Excerpt: Leccima says he never claimed to own the homes. While not acknowledging his televised renovations were staged, he didn’t deny it and suggested that A&E and Departure Films, the production company that makes the show, knew exactly what he was doing.

Excerpt: This is what A&E canned Richard Davis and Trademark Properties for . . . an alleged con-man? Now Richard is and Trademark are featured weekly on TLC’s The Real Deal which airs Saturday nights with repeates on Sundays. This also isn’t the first time their have been allegations that Flip This House is staged. One of the other flippers, the Montelongo’s were rumored to have hired actors for their flips as well as not actually making the renevations. I enjoy the Montelongo’s shows but the other flip teams are terrible. A&E looks to have two new flip teams for this season, but none of them can live up to Trademark. TLC’s The Real Deal is a great show that is was Flip This House was and should be.

Article Title: House-flipping shows are hot

Excerpt: When Richard Davis gazes upon a TV schedule peppered with real estate shows, he gives himself an appreciative pat on the back. His Charleston, S.C.-based company, Trademark Properties, “starred” on the first season of “Flip This House.” Davis is listed as executive producer in the closing credits of the shows. And he won fans with the eccentric characters on his team. “I started the genre, and everybody’s been trying to copy me ever since,” Davis said. “At the end of the day, real estate is the American dream. You had little home fix-up shows, but nobody ever showed you the business side of it.”

Excerpt: Davis and the A&E network had a falling out after the first season. Davis claimed they wanted him to script episodes, which he rejected. And there was a disagreement about who actually owned the show — Davis or A&E. Meanwhile, Davis gathered up his marbles and went to TLC.

Article Title: Richard Davis' Favorite Things

Excerpt: After college, Davis bought his first house for $27,000, put $10,000 into it and sold it for $68,000. Then, after Hurricane Hugo hit the South Carolina coast in 1989, he helped rebuild 47 homes in a year, a feat which he says was "like getting addicted to adrenaline."

Excerpt: "I live off of Diet Coke and my Blackberry," Davis admits. "If you've seen the show, you know it's real if you see me with a Diet Coke."

Excerpt: "I'm big into sports," Davis says. "I'm either coaching basketball and baseball at the rec center or middle school or [working] as an assistant at the high school. That's my release. When a kid can't make a left-handed layup, and you work with him and he does it, seeing that development is great."

Article Title: Trademark Properties Answer Five Questions

Excerpt: These Five Questions were posed to Richard Davis, the President of Trademark Properties. We received a reply from Ginger Alexander - whom you know, if you have seen the show.

Excerpt: "We do about $150MM per year in residential business, so we go from our experience with sales on what people really want out of a house, this changes periodically as new products are introduced to the market."

Excerpt: "We usually work on anywhere from 2-20 rehabs at a time. There are also some that we buy that require very little work and we usually have a few of those at a time as well."

Article Title: Team Trademark rides again

Excerpt: Richard, Ginger and crew from Charleston’s Trademark Properties have found a new TV home after starring in the first season of “Flip This House” on the A&E cable network.

Excerpt: The hourlong program will follow the real estate investors as they buy, fix and sell homes for a profit. The show will repeat throughout the week, with new shows airing at 9 p.m. each Saturday. Go to tlc.discovery.com for a complete schedule.