Financial details about Theia Group Inc. were revealed as part of a one-year-long court battle over allegations of trademark infringement against the company.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in January 2020 by Oregon-based lens company Theia Technologies LLC. In February 2021, the court ordered that Theia Group — the satellite startup based in the nation's capital that plans to bring a massive facility to Albuquerque — stop using the THEIA mark on its website, social media accounts and in filings and communications with the U.S. government. Theia Group later asked the court to allow the use of its name in communications with the U.S. government, but the motion was denied.
This week, Theia Group disclosed that it decided to no longer use the name. That statement was included as part of a memorandum the company filed ahead of a June 28 bench trial in which a judge will decide the outcome.
The final pretrial memorandum states:
Defendants have chosen to voluntarily cease all use of the THEIA mark and will never again use it. Thus, there is no need for the Preliminary Injunction or a Permanent Injunction.
However, Defendants deny that they ever infringed any mark of Plaintiff and will defend against Plaintiff’s claims of infringement. Further, Defendant is a startup company with enormous debt, has never sold any goods or services and has never had any profit. Thus, there are no profits from sales to "disgorge."
It is unclear what the company will change its name to, but filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show that Theia Group applied for ownership of the word mark "Thorian Group" earlier this month.
The trademark news comes as Theia Group moves forward with plans to construct the Orion Center, a proposed campus near the Albuquerque International Sunport that would house satellite assembly and testing operations and create at least 1,000 jobs. The company eventually plans to launch a network of satellites that will surveil the earth, gathering imagery and data that it says can be used for first responder and emergency services, border security, mapping and more.
According to an October 2020 declaration from Theia Group CEO Erlend Olson — submitted to the court as part of the trademark suit — the company offers data analytics services to "sovereign nation-states" to obtain capital for building and launching its satellite network. Nations will receive data "from digitization of their regions" gathered using Theia Group's satellite network, and, in the interim, by aircraft.
Another trademark-related court filing by Theia Group, from the same month, cites a February 2019 "memorandum of agreement" between Theia Group and an "unidentified sovereign nation" for the provision of aircraft with equipment emulating the capabilities of the satellite network plus two satellites.
The company is scheduled to launch its network of satellites by 2025 and does not plan to begin working on the "industrial customer and commercial aspects" of its business plan until the network is deployed, according to an additional August 2020 trademark court filing from the company. Theia Group VP James Reid Gorman, who was unable to be reached for comment for this story, told Business First in November 2020 that satellite launches are intended to begin in 2023.
Sunport spokesman Jonathan Small said in a text message that the city is aware of a planned name change for the company. He also said, citing an attorney for the city, that the rebrand will not impact the finalization of a proposed lease and development agreement with Theia Group for the land where the Orion Center is set to be built. Ava Montoya, a spokeswoman for Mayor Tim Keller's office, said in an email to Business First that "the city is not involved in these private legal proceedings."
"As far as the status of the land lease, it is still moving through the formal approval process," she continued.
Theia Group's expansion plans represent one of Keller's leading economic development initiatives. The project "could be a massive job creator for our city, providing a boost to our economy and securing our role in the booming space industry," he said in a public statement last year. The Environmental Planning Commission (EPC) approved a site plan for the project in November 2020.
According to the EPC approval, the campus would include manufacturing, assembly, office and lab space plus a hotel and on-site amenities such as a gym.
A 2020 research report from commercial real estate firm Colliers International pegs the construction costs for the project at $8 billion to $10 billion throughout a decade.
