Forbo-Giubiasco S. A. v. Congoleum Corp.

482 F. Supp. 716, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9751
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 3, 1980
DocketNo. 78 Civ. 5390 (MEL)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 482 F. Supp. 716 (Forbo-Giubiasco S. A. v. Congoleum Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District 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
Forbo-Giubiasco S. A. v. Congoleum Corp., 482 F. Supp. 716, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9751 (S.D.N.Y. 1980).

Opinion

LASKER, District Judge.

Forbo-Giubiasco, S.A., (“Giubiasco”) manufactures and sells cushioned vinyl products under a license from Congoleum Corporation (“Congoleum”), which owns patents on those products. Giubiasco sells licensed products to wholesalers and retailers only in Switzerland; licensed products which it manufactures for consumption outside Switzerland are sold to “sister companies” [718]*718—that is, other subsidiaries of Giubiaseo’s parent, Forbo, S.A. — which act as national distributors for Giubiasco in countries other than Switzerland. This action grows out of a dispute between Giubiasco and Congoleum respecting the royalties Giubiasco pays on those sales.1

The licensing agreement between the parties requires Giubiasco to pay Congoleum royalties of five percent of the “net sales price” of licensed products “made and used or sold” by it. The agreement provides that when Giubiasco sells licensed products to “a related company,” the “net sales price” will be deemed to be the net price that Giubiasco would have received had the products been sold at Giubiasco’s “then current price to an independent purchaser.” It is Giubiasco’s position that this refers to “an independent purchaser at the equivalent distribution or marketing level,” that its sales to sister corporations constitute bona fide, arms-length transactions, and that therefore the price its sisters actually pay is the price Giubiasco would receive from an independent national distributor. Accordingly Giubiasco asserts that it has complied with the terms of its licensing agreement in paying royalties based on the actual price received from its sisters for licensed products sold to them.

Giubiasco contends that if it is incorrect in interpreting the language “independent purchaser” as referring only to an independent purchaser “at the equivalent distribution or marketing level,” then it may take advantage of the “most favored licensee” provision of the licensing agreement to achieve the same result. That provision states, in short, that if Congoleum grants licenses to others containing more favorable royalty provisions than those that apply to Giubiasco, Giubiasco may elect to substitute the more favorable provisions for those contained in its own license. Congoleum has executed a licensing agreement with DLW A.G. (“DLW”) which provides that when DLW sells licensed products to “subsidiaries,” it will pay the royalty it would have paid had the sale been to “a third party at the closest equivalent distribution or marketing level.” Giubiasco argues that to the extent the royalty provisions in its own agreement respecting sales to “related companies” are not equivalent to those in DLW’s, it may apply the provision of the latter in computing its royalties.

In sum, it is Giubiasco’s position that 1) because its sales to sister corporations are arms-length transactions, the price paid by its sisters is that which would be paid by an independent national distributor, and 2) that under the provisions either of its own agreement or those of DLW’s, that is the price which Giubiasco should use in computing royalties. Congoleum contests both Giubiasco’s factual assertion as well as its interpretation of the licensing agreements.

Giubiasco commenced this action against Congoleum seeking a declaratory judgment that it is and has been paying proper royalties to Congoleum. Congoleum’s original answer contained five counterclaims, the first and third of which sought damages from Giubiasco for breach of the licensing agreement. On Giubiasco’s motion, the second and fifth counterclaims were stricken without prejudice to repleading those counterclaims to conform with Rule 9(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and Congoleum’s fourth counterclaim was stricken for failure to state a claim.

Congoleum has since repleaded its second and fifth counterclaims, and Giubiasco moves again to strike them. Congoleum also moves to amend its answer to add three counterclaims, which resemble its original fourth counterclaim. Each counterclaim is considered in the order set forth in the proposed amended answer submitted by Congoleum on its motion.

1. The Second Counterclaim

Giubiasco moves to strike Congoleum’s repleaded second counterclaim, which [719]*719charges Giubiasco with fraud, and seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Congoleum alleges that when Giubiasco executed the agreement with Congoleum, it did not intend to honor its contractual obligations as to royalties on sales of licensed products to sister corporations, and that it has not. Such allegations state a cause of action for fraud — “a contractual promise made with the undisclosed intention not to perform it constitutes fraud,” Sabo v. Delman, 3 N.Y.2d 155, 162, 164 N.Y.S.2d 714, 718, 143 N.E.2d 906, 909 (1957) — and, if proven, would warrant recission of the contract, id. at 162, 164 N.Y.S.2d at 719, 143 N.E.2d 906.2 The “circumstances constituting fraud” are stated with the particularity required by Rule 9(b), except with regard to one of three damage allegations. Congoleum asserts that as a consequence of its reliance on Giubiasco’s false representations, it was 1) deprived of royalties due it, 2) precluded from issuing licenses to third parties, and 3) “compelled to expend considerable managerial, executive and fiscal resources in dealing with” the alleged fraudulent representations. As to the first and third elements of compensatory damages alleged, Congoleum’s pleading is adequate. However, as to the second element, there is no indication whatsoever (especially since Giubiasco’s license is not exclusive) how Giubiasco’s allegedly fraudulent representations precluded Congoleum from licensing third parties to produce cushioned vinyl products. Accordingly, Giubiasco’s motion to strike Congoleum’s second counterclaim is granted only to the extent of striking paragraph 27(b) of Congoleum’s proposed amended answer. Although Congoleum may not be entitled of right to a second opportunity to replead the stricken allegations, compare Denny v. Barber, 576 F.2d 465, 470-71 (2d Cir. 1978) with Goldberg v. Meridor, 567 F.2d 209, 213 (2d Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1069, 98 S.Ct. 1249, 55 L.Ed.2d 771 (1978), it may do so, but any such repleading shall be final.

2. The Fourth Counterclaim

Congoleum moves to amend its answer to add a fourth counterclaim that is essentially the same as, though somewhat narrower than, its original fourth counterclaim. The motion to amend is denied.

In the proposed fourth counterclaim, Congoleum seeks recission of the licensing agreement on the grounds of mutual mistake. However, Congoleum has not alleged a mutual mistake — it alleges simply that when Congoleum and Giubiasco signed the licensing agreement, each of them entertained different notions as to how it was to be interpreted. If this is true, they believed different things when they contracted, not the same thing, and it is only when contracting parties entertain the same (mistaken) belief, that the doctrine of mutual mistake has any application.

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

Related

Rodgers v. Roulette Records, Inc.
677 F. Supp. 731 (S.D. New York, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
482 F. Supp. 716, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9751, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/forbo-giubiasco-s-a-v-congoleum-corp-nysd-1980.