Continental AFA Dispensing Co. v. AFA Polytek, B v. (In Re Indesco International, Inc.)

451 B.R. 274, 2011 WL 1403032
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York
DecidedApril 13, 2011
Docket19-22222
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 451 B.R. 274 (Continental AFA Dispensing Co. v. AFA Polytek, B v. (In Re Indesco International, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Continental AFA Dispensing Co. v. AFA Polytek, B v. (In Re Indesco International, Inc.), 451 B.R. 274, 2011 WL 1403032 (N.Y. 2011).

Opinion

*278 DECISION AND ORDER ON MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ROBERT E. GERBER, Bankruptcy Judge.

Facts.279

Discussion.281

I. Summary Judgment Standard.281

II. Contract Interpretation.282

III. Preliminary Issues. co oo

A. The Cross-Default Clauses. co oo

1. The CSI Sprayers License Agreement . oo

2. The OpAd Sprayers License Agreement oo
3. The OpAd Sprayers Supply Agreement oo

4. The Polytek Note . io oo

5. The Machinery Lease Agreement and CSI Parts Supply Agreement. Ch oo 03

6. Summary. c-

B. Reading the Agreements Together oo 03

o: oc 03

IV. Continental’s Claims and Polytek s Counterclaims. O Oí 03

A. The Polytek Note. O Oí 03

1. Breach of Contract. O Oí 03

2. Indemnification. CO Oí 03

B. The Machinery Lease Agreement. CO Oí 03

C. The CSI Sprayers License Agreement. CO Oí 03

D. The CSI Parts Supply Agreement. 03 ^0 CO

1. Whether Polytek Provided Adequate Notice . CO ^0 CO

2. Defective Parts . CO ^0 CO

E. The OpAd Sprayer Agreements. Oí 0> CO

1.' Continental’s Alleged Breaches. rH rH CO

a. Failure to Pursue the USA Detergent Letter of Intent rH rH CO

b. Failure to Market OpAd Products . 03 tH CO

2. Damages. CO tH CO

a. General vs. Consequential Lost Profit Damages. CO tH CO

b. Limitation on Damages in the OpAd Sprayers Supply Agreement. to iH CO

c. Standards for Recovery of General vs. Consequential Lost Profit Damages. CO 1 — 1 Oí

d. Lost Royalties under the OpAd Sprayers License Agreement CO H-*• -3

e. Lost Profit Damages under the OpAd Sprayers Supply Agreement.

Conclusion.322

In these related adversary proceedings under the umbrella of the chapter 11 cases of reorganized debtors Indesco International Inc. and its affiliates (“Indesco”), each of the above-captioned parties — Continental AFA Dispensing Company (“Continental AFA”), and Continental Sprayers International Inc. (“CSI”, and collectively with Continental AFA, “Continental”), 1 *279 and AFA Polytek B.V. (“Polytek”) — is a manufacturer of sprayers used in household products, such as spray cleaners. Each of Continental and Polytek asserts claims against the other for breach of contract, arising from one or more of six agreements relating to their respective sprayer businesses that were entered into or updated as settlement agreements in March 2002, in connection with the emergence from bankruptcy of Indesco, Continental’s predecessor.

As described more fully below, the Bankruptcy Settlement Agreements provided, in general, that Continental and Po-lytek would:

(1) supply each other with machines, molds, services, and finished products;
(2) effectively divide their sales and marketing efforts; and
(3) make specified payments to each other.

In these adversary proceedings, Continental seeks damages from Polytek in a five count complaint on what are essentially four claims 2 for admittedly unpaid sums under the Bankruptcy Settlement Agreements. Polytek, in turn, seeks damages from Continental on four of its own claims for alleged breaches of contract by Continental — and also asserts those claims as defenses to any obligations Polytek owed to Continental.

Continental moves for summary judgment, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ. P.”) 56, made applicable to this adversary proceeding by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure (“Bankruptcy Rule”) 7056, on all of the claims in either direction — -for plaintiffs summary judgment on the claims Continental asserts against Polytek, and for defendant’s summary judgment on the claims Polytek asserts against Continental.

Continental’s motion is granted in part and denied in part, as set forth below and in a table attached to this decision laying out the disposition with respect to each claim.

FACTS

With all inferences drawn in favor of the non-moving party (here, Polytek), the facts underlying the motions are as follows.

The principal products of Polytek (a Dutch corporation) and Continental (whose companies are Delaware corporations with their principal places of business in Missouri), are trigger sprayers and other liquid dispensing systems. The products include the older “T1000” and “T8500” models (designed by one of Continental’s predecessors), and the newer “OpAd” trigger sprayer (designed by Po-lytek).

In 1997, Indesco was formed as a holding company to acquire Polytek, Continental AFA, and CSI, all of which were engaged in the sale of trigger spray devices. 3 On January 1, 1999, CSI and Polytek entered into a ten year lease, pursuant to which Continental leased to Polytek certain machines, equipment, and molds to be used in connection with the production of the older T8500 and T1000 sprayers in exchange for monthly payments. 4

The joint venture did not last long, and in October 2000, prior to entering bankruptcy, Indesco sold its Polytek shares to Arbo Consult Nederland, B.V. (“Arbo”) in exchange for $2 million in cash; a series of *280 leases, licenses, and equipment; the assumption of about $8.2 million in debt; and a subordinated promissory note, by which Polytek agreed to pay Continental $350,000 (the principal), and 10% annual interest in quarterly installments until the principal became due in October 2003 (the “Polytek Note”)- Additionally, as part of this transaction, CSI and Polytek entered into an agreement by which CSI granted Polytek an exclusive license to manufacture and sell T8500 and T1000 sprayers (the “CSI Sprayers License Agreement”), and an agreement by which Polytek granted Indesco a license to the newer OnePak technology and the right to exclusively manufacture, distribute, and sell OpAd spray devices in a defined territory (the “OpAd Sprayers License Agreement”). The parties also amended the 1999 Machinery Lease Agreement. 5

On November 17, 2000, an ad hoc committee of noteholders filed an involuntary chapter 11 petition against Indesco.

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451 B.R. 274, 2011 WL 1403032, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/continental-afa-dispensing-co-v-afa-polytek-b-v-in-re-indesco-nysb-2011.