First National Bank of Omaha v. Three Dimension Systems Products, Inc.

130 F. Supp. 2d 1102, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4790, 2001 WL 117790
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nebraska
DecidedJanuary 29, 2001
DocketNo. 8:98CV569
StatusPublished

This text of 130 F. Supp. 2d 1102 (First National Bank of Omaha v. Three Dimension Systems Products, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nebraska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First National Bank of Omaha v. Three Dimension Systems Products, Inc., 130 F. Supp. 2d 1102, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4790, 2001 WL 117790 (D. Neb. 2001).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT

BATAILLON, District Judge.

I have before me 3D’s oral motions for judgment as a matter of law made pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50 which I took under advisement at the close of the two-week jury trial in this case. See Filing No. 344. I also have before me the motion (Filing No. 350) of First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO) made pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) to amend judgment, which is supported by a brief and an index of evidence (Filing No. 351). Finally, I have before me FNBO’s motion (Filing No. 352) made pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58 to enter judgment on the verdict.

Procedural Background

At the close of all the evidence in this case and before the parties’ claims were submitted to the jury, the parties made a variety of motions on the record for judgment as a matter of law. At the time, I 1) denied FNBO’s motions for judgment as a matter of law on 3D’s conversion, copyright, and willful infringement counterclaims; 2) sustained 3D’s motion for judgment as a matter of law on its conversion counterclaim and granted injunctive relief; 3) sustained 3D’s motion for judgment as a matter of law for actual damages in the amount of $80,000 on its copyright infringement counterclaim; 4) denied 3D’s motion for judgment as a matter of law on the willfulness element of its copyright infringement counterclaim; 5) took under advisement 3D’s motion for judgment as a matter of law on FNBO’s claim for anticipatory breach; and 6) took under advisement 3D’s motions for judgment as a matter of law and for injunctive relief on its copyright infringement claims.

The jury returned a verdict on December 11, 2000, for FNBO on its claim for anticipatory breach of contract, but awarded no damages. See Filing No. 349. I declined to enter judgment for FNBO, and I now rule on the motions I took under advisement, granting judgment as a matter of law to 3D on its counterclaims for conversion, breach of contract, and willful copyright infringement. FNBO’s motions to amend judgment and to enter judgment on the verdict are accordingly denied.

Discussion

A court may grant judgment as a matter of law when “the evidence is such that, without weighing the credibility of the witness or otherwise considering the weight of the evidence, there can be only one conclusion as to the verdict that reasonable persons could have reached.” GLB Enterprises, Inc. v. United States, 232 F.3d 965, 968 (8th Cir.2000) (citing Lavender v. Kurn, 327 U.S. 645, 653, 66 S.Ct. 740, 90 L.Ed. 916 (1946)). The overall evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict holder, who is given the benefit of all favorable inferences that may be drawn from the evidence. Id. (citing Stockmen’s Livestock Market, Inc. [1105]*1105v. Norwest Bank, 135 F.3d 1236, 1240 (8th Cir.1998)).

Anticipatory Breach. The essential relevant facts in this case have never been in serious dispute, but the interpretation of those facts created a mixed question of law and triable, fact about whether 3D’s conduct constituted anticipatory breach. By denying 3D’s earlier motion for summary judgment, I left the door open for FNBO to establish that under Arizona law, 3D had repudiated the contract by “express[ing] a positive and unequivocal manifestation that [it would] not render the required performance when it [was] due.” Oldenburger v. Del E. Webb Development Co., 159 Ariz. 129, 765 P.2d 531, 533 (Ariz.App.1988). All of the parties’ remaining claims and defenses depended on that showing by FNBO.

I therefore instructed the jury that to recover on its claim for anticipatory breach of contract, FNBO had to prove that 1) 3D stated or showed an unequivocal intent not to perform as promised, and 2) FNBO was ready, willing and offered to perform FNBO’s duties under the contract if 3D had not repudiated. Filing No. 348, Jury Instr. No. 29. I now find that given the evidence presented at trial, no reasonable jury could have arrived at the conclusion that 3D had anticipatorily breached the contract with FNBO.

Robert Haller, the FNBO vice-president for retail operations, testified that shortly after assuming his duties following his predecessor’s resignation, he decided that FNBO needed to terminate the Platform project. Haller testified that he consulted with staff and reviewed the contract and accounting documents, and concluded by November 10 or 11 that 3D had anticipa-torily breached the contract by failing to correct FNBO-identified errors in Stage 1 of the Platform project and by demanding payment of an invoice for $250,000.

Haller purportedly relied upon a fax from 3D dated October 30, 1998, which FNBO apparently received November 2 or 3, 1998. The pertinent part of this fax, “Stage 2 Risks,” detailed thirteen risks for which “no contingency plan has been added to the project plan. This means that delays incurred due to the following will probably cause a delay to the delivery of stage 2 and may result in additional charges.” Trial Ex. 24 at 3. Haller mentioned that item twelve, which stated, “No support of stage 1 deliverables after Friday 10/30/98,” was of particular concern to him since it apparently meant that 3D would make no error corrections to Stage 1 after October 30, 1998. But Haller’s interpretation is nonsensical, given that the list merely described factors that might delay delivery of the next stage. The very existence of the list indicated that 3D intended to continue work on Stage 2 of the Platform project. Further, 3D employees testified that 3D fully intended to correct the Stage 1 errors before delivery of Stage 2, planned for January 29, 1999. In deposition testimony that was read during Haller’s cross-examination, Haller admitted that by November 2 or 3, 1998, FNBO had failed to identify any errors that were of such a critical nature that the development of Stage 2 could not begin until they were corrected. FNBO was aware that 3D had set aside time and employees to devote exclusively to error correction following installation of Stage 1, but when FNBO delayed in reporting errors, 3D consequently elected to reassign its employees Stage 2 development, postponing the error correction task until later. As a matter of law, such evidence hardly manifests an unequivocal intent on 3D’s part not to perform its contractual duties.

Haller further testified that he believed 3D had anticipatorily breached the contract by demanding $250,000 to which Hal-ler believed 3D was not entitled. The trial exhibits tell a different story about the invoice, however. In mid-1998, after Platform development was well underway, the parties discussed modifying the original Platform agreement “without getting the lawyers involved.” Trial Ex. 92 at 1, ¶ 1; 2, ¶ 1. Proposed Appendix D to License Schedule 2 split the delivery of the Plat[1106]

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Related

Lavender v. Kurn
327 U.S. 645 (Supreme Court, 1946)
Glb Enterprises, Inc. v. United States
232 F.3d 965 (Eighth Circuit, 2000)
Irwin v. Murphey
302 P.2d 534 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1956)
Oldenburger v. Del E. Webb Development Co.
765 P.2d 531 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1988)
United California Bank v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America
681 P.2d 390 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1983)

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130 F. Supp. 2d 1102, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4790, 2001 WL 117790, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-national-bank-of-omaha-v-three-dimension-systems-products-inc-ned-2001.