American Speedy Printing Centers, Inc. v. AM Marketing, Inc.

69 F. App'x 692
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit·Decided July 8, 2003·No. No. 01-2123·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge.

Defendants-appellants AM Marketing, Inc., Mary Bennett, and Allen F. Bennett (collectively “AM Marketing”) appeal the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of substitute plaintiffappellee Allegra Network, LLC (“Allegra”), the successor-in-interest to American Speedy Printing Centers, Inc. (“ASPC”), on ASPC’s claims against AM Marketing for breach of contract and Lanham Act violations, seeking injunctive and monetary relief in the form of past due royalties and associated fees, lost and future profits/royalties, damages allowed under the Lanham Act, an enhancement of Lanham Act damages, and costs and attorneys’ fees. The district court concluded that the defendants failed to establish a genuine issue of material fact as to the amount of past due royalties, that the plaintiff was entitled to lost or future profits/royalties, and that the plaintiff was entitled to relief under the Lanham Act. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM in part, REVERSE in part, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

BACKGROUND

Factual History

In 1988, AM Marketing, an Illinois Corporation with its principal place of business in Springfield, Illinois, and ASPC, a Michigan Corporation with its principal place of business located in Troy, Michigan, entered into a franchise and licensing agreement covering the operation of a printing and copying center named “American Speedy Printing Center of Springfield-Southwest.” Under the terms of the agreement, which was to last for twenty years, AM Marketing agreed to pay royalties, calculated at 6 percent of total monthly receipts, and a 1 percent monthly advertising fee, in return for the right to use ASPC/Allegra owned trademarks and know-how. The agreement contained a covenant not to compete, defined default and termination, and explained the effect of termination on the franchise relationship.

Section 14(B) of the agreement provided, in pertinent part:

Franchisor may terminate this Agreement provided the Franchisor allows Franchise Owner thirty (30) days after receipt of notice to cure deficiencies, as more fully described in the notice procedure hereinafter set forth in Paragraph 15 of this Agreement, in the event of any material breach of any terms of this Franchise and License Agreement, including, but not limited to, the following:
(i) failure to make any payment(s) or supply reports required by this Franchise and License Agreement....

Under Section 15(A), “Franchisor shall give Franchise Owner written notice of Notice of Intent to Terminate specifying the reason or reasons for such termination and the date termination will be effective. The date of termination shall be at least thirty (30) days from the date such Notice of Intent to Terminate is postmarked or from the date of personal service, as the case may be.” Section 16 governed post [694] termination obligations and required AM Marketing, in the event of termination, to pay sums owed to ASPC, cease from using any marks of ASPC, destroy any ASPC materials, cease using the telephone number assigned, and return all ASPC information and communications.

ASPC alleges that AM Marketing failed to report total monthly receipts, as required under the franchise agreement, for the periods February 1996 to November 1996, February 1997, June 1997, July 1997, and December 1997 to December 1999. ASPC also claims that AM Marketing failed to make the required monthly royalty payments for the periods April 1996 to October 1996, February 1997, June 1997, July 1997, and November 1997 to October 1999.

When the plaintiff discovered the defendants’ royalty payment deficiencies, ASPC performed a royalty audit for the period of March 1994, through February 1997, and found a delinquency in royalty payments totaling $46,291.72. In a letter dated June 12, 1997, ASPC notified AM Marketing of the deficiencies and provided two repayment options, but neglected to provide any notice of default or termination as specified in the agreement. By including the $900 cost of the audit and an additional arrearage of $10,619.53, ASPC calculated a total amount due of $57,811.24.

More than two years later, ASPC sent AM Marketing a Notice to Cure Default and of Intent to Terminate Franchise and License Agreement. As part of the notice, ASPC described its intent to terminate the agreement if the defaults were not cured within thirty days, as provided in Sections 14 and 16 of the franchise agreement; at the same time, ASPC expressed its desire for defendants to cure the deficiencies and “maintain” the franchise relationship. According to ASPC’s calculations. AM Marketing owed $87,828.35 in 1999. AM Marketing admitted receiving this letter but failed to read it until ASPC served them in the present lawsuit six months later. Following ASPC’s commencement of this action, AM Marketing continued using the marks associated with the franchise agreement and operating as an ASPC franchise until the close of American Speedy Printing Center of Springfield-Southwest in December of 2000.

District Court Proceeding

In support of its motion for summary judgment, Allegra submitted the report of the royalty audit performed on the books and receipts of AM Marketing for the period from March 1994 through February 1997; Allegra’s spreadsheets recording AM Marketing’s monthly receipts and royalties for the period January 1994 through December 1997, including estimated amounts for those months during that period for which AM Marketing failed to report those figures to Allegra; AM Marketing sales reports for January 1998 through March 2000 produced during discovery by the defendants; and the affidavit of Mark Crowley, Vice-President of Finance of Allegra Network, explaining the royalty audit and describing the basis for Allegra’s calculations of royalties due and unpaid. AM Marketing opposed the motion for summary judgment and submitted an affidavit and the deposition testimony from Mary Bennett admitting that AM Marketing was in arrears, but disputing the amount due from the unpaid royalties. According to Ms. Bennett’s testimony, the auditors who performed the royalty audit erred by including receipts from AM Marketing’s other businesses-not associated with Speedy Printing-in the calculation of unpaid royalties due Allegra, and by using estimated rather than actual receipts in calculating the unpaid royalties. AM Marketing figured the amount due in unpaid royalties actually totaled $16,563.51.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

American Speedy Printing Centers, Inc. v. AM Marketing, Inc., 69 F. App'x 692 (6th Cir. 2003).

69 F. App'x 692 (American Speedy Printing Centers, Inc. v. AM Marketing, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Untitled Case
E.D. Michigan, 2026
Legacy Academy, Inc. v. Jlk, Inc.
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2014
Moran Industries, Inc. v. Mr. Transmission of Chattanooga, Inc.
725 F. Supp. 2d 712 (E.D. Tennessee, 2010)
Bracco Diagnostics, Inc. v. Amersham Health, Inc.
627 F. Supp. 2d 384 (D. New Jersey, 2009)
Eberly v. OPTIMUM NUTRITION, INC.
562 F. Supp. 2d 956 (N.D. Ohio, 2008)