A consumer protection suit was brought against Unocal on November 10, 2004. This suit alleged that Unocal had manipulated the California Air Resources Board (CARB) rulemaking-proceedings from 1990 to 1994 regarding emission standards and regulations for reformulated gasoline (RFG).  The case also alleged that Unocal had made materially false and misleading representations resulting in the development of RFG regulations that substantially overlapped with Unocal’s then-undisclosed patent claims.  Consequently, Unocal was able to monopolize the technological and product markets for CARB-compliant RFG in California through enforcement of its patent rights.  Specifically, Unocal claimed patent infringement against eight of the manor refineries constituting 90% of the market, and was awarded 5.75 cents per gallon of infringing RFG produced by those refineries.  This royalty was ultimately passed down to the consumer.

Along with co-counsel, Mr. Tostrud was instrumental in securing a settlement in excess of $40 million on behalf of Mr. Lossada and the Class.