iNTELEFILM, the publicly traded parent company of commercial production players Chelsea Pictures, Curious Pictures and DCODE may be revisiting the courtroom in a four-and-a-half-year-old legal battle with ABC/Disney. At the same time, the Nasdaq stock market has notified iNTELEFILM that it is reviewing the company's listing eligibility as it has fallen short of the market's minimum net worth requirement.

ABC/Disney and iNTELEFILM met in court originally in September 1998 after a 1996 lawsuit filed by iNTELEFILM. The dispute concerned a radio venture iNTELEFILM had undertaken with ABC Radio Networks, a national radio network for kids called Radio Oz, says iNTELEFILM president Christopher Dahl. The jury in the original case had found in favor of iNTELEFILM and awarded the company $40 million in damages. A judge upheld the jury's liability decision but set aside the financial damages awarded. After a subsequent appeal by iNTELEFILM, the US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided to grant iNTELEFILM a new trial on the damages issue. If no settlement is reached, that trial should happen within six months. "We feel hugely positive about it," says Dahl. iNTELEFILM is also appealing the Nasdaq notification and will present the market with a compliance plan. If Nasdaq deems the plan inadequate to address its requirements, iNTELEFILM shares could be delisted.