Alex overhears a conversation between Sarah and Beth about a new idea they have which will revolutionize parking garages. Their idea involves a complicated mechanism that essentially operates like a vending machine, allowing cars to be scooped up, stored, and then dropped off when the owner returns. Beth sketches the mechanism on a napkin to explain the concept further to Sarah. When the two leave, Beth tosses the napkin in the trash.

Alex digs the napkin out of the trash and takes it home. After a few hours studying the design, he is convinced it will work. Using Beths sketch as model, Alex creates a fully-rendered design on his computer and submits it with an application for a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. One week later, Matt purchases a lot and begins construction of a parking garage. To advertise the project, he installs a huge sign by the sidewalk: Coming Soon Rack em & Stack em Garage.

At the same time and unbeknownst to you, Beth is building her own parking garage on the other side of town with the same mechanism she sketched on the napkin. She settles on the name, Rack em & Stack em Garage and promptly files a trademark application.

Six months later, Beth drives drives by alexs nearly-completed garage and notices the sign. She is mad that Alex has stolen the name for her garage and copied her design. Deciding that a lawsuit is inevitable, Beth files for a patent on her design to shore up her legal arguments. While unsure how Matt copied her design, Beth is certain she was the first to come up with the idea and reduce it to writing. One week later, Beth files suit for violations of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret.