Cite as 2013 Ark. 232
The Commission filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint and a supporting brief. In its motion, it asserted in part that the Arkansas Constitution entitled it to sovereign immunity from the trademark-infringement claims, as Alpha sought both monetary damages and injunctive relief. The circuit court issued an order in which it denied the Commission’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint. The Commission then filed its answer to the amended complaint. In its answer, the Commission stated that it was "entitled to sovereign immunity under [a]rticle V, [s]ection 20, of the Arkansas Constitution and that the Court therefore lacks jurisdiction over this action."
The Commission made its first interlocutory appeal of the circuit court's denial of the motion to dismiss the amended complaint. On review of the interlocutory appeal from the circuit court's denial of the motion to dismiss, this court concluded that the Commission had failed to obtain an express ruling on the sovereign-immunity issue. Thus, this court held that an appeal based on that issue had to be dismissed, but it dismissed without prejudice "so that the Commission may return to circuit court to obtain a ruling for this court to review on an interlocutory basis." Ark. Lottery Comm'n v. Alpha Mktg., 2012 Ark. 23, at 9, 386 S.W.3d 400, 405.
Based on this court's holding, the Commission then sought, and the circuit court subsequently issued, a supplemental order expressly denying the Commission's motion to dismiss on the grounds of sovereign immunity. At that juncture, Alpha filed a second amended complaint specifically incorporating its previous allegations. It further asserted that the Commission "repeatedly took and damaged [Alpha's] intellectual property with each act of
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