Grill Holdings, L.L.C. v. Camellia Grill Holdings, Inc.

120 So. 3d 294, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 1642, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1321, 2013 WL 3204559
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 8, 2013
DocketNos. 2012-CA-1642, 2012-CA-1643
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 120 So. 3d 294 (Grill Holdings, L.L.C. v. Camellia Grill Holdings, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grill Holdings, L.L.C. v. Camellia Grill Holdings, Inc., 120 So. 3d 294, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 1642, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1321, 2013 WL 3204559 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

DENNIS R. BAGNERIS, SR., Judge.

It This matter arises out of the execution of a License Agreement between Camellia Grill Holdings, Inc. (“Camellia Grill”), as licensor, and The Grill Holdings, L.L.C. (“Grill Holdings”,) as licensee. Grill Holdings appeals a trial court judgment, which granted Camellia Grill’s motion for summary judgment and declared “the License Agreement entered into between the parties on August 27, 2006 to be terminated effective May 25, 2012, restoring all rights to the licenses marks to the mover, CAMELLIA GRILL HOLDINGS, INC.” Camellia Grill also appealed arguing that the trial court erred in determining that May 25, 2012, was the effective date of the termination of the parties’ agreement and that June 1, 2011 should be the effective date of termination. Camellia Grill also filed an answer to Grill Holdings’ appeal requesting additional attorney’s fees for the work done on the appeal. For the following reasons, we hereby affirm the trial court’s judgment granting summary judgment in favor of Camellia Grill, we reverse that part of the judgment that determined the effective date of termination of the License Agreement to be May 25, 2012, and we amend the judgment to find that the | ¡¡effective date of termination of the License Agreement was June 1, 2011, and to include additional attorney’s fees of $3,222.00 for Camellia Grill’s work on this appeal.

FACTS

On June 6, 2011, Camellia Grill filed a petition for declaratory judgment seeking a judicial determination that a License Agreement it had with Grill Holdings had been breached 1. Specifically, Camellia Grill alleged the following in its petition and first amended and supplemental petition:

1. The defendant altered the marks subject to the Agreement without first obtaining the written consent of plaintiff, as licensor, and has continued to do so despite written notice from plaintiffilicensor to cease the unauthorized use of the altered marks.
2. The defendant has allowed the improper and unauthorized use of the mark, in violation of Sections 6, 7, 10.3 & 11, by the operation of two units, as sub-licensees, in Destín, Florida and on Chartres Street in New Orleans, without first providing written notice of the sub-license to plaintiff/licensor regarding Chartres Street location as well as not having in place proper sub-license agreements for either location upon commencement of operations.
3. The defendant failed to send to plaintiff/licensor the royalty check due for the fourth quarter, 2008, having been due on or before January 10, 2009, in violation of Sections 4.2 & 4.8 of the Agreement.
4. The defendant failed to timely provide the annual financial statement due for 2007, and failed to comply with plaintiffs request for an audit authorized by Sec. 4.8.4 of the Agreement, until it was judicially required to do so by Judgments rendered January 22, 2009, October 2, 2009 and submitted to the mandated audit, only after being held in Contempt of Court by a Judgment rendered |aDecember 29, 2010, Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans Proceedings No. 2008-8236.

On June 24, 2011, Grill Holdings filed an answer that made a general denial and [297]*297argued that there had been no ill practice nor breach of the License Agreement between the parties. Thereafter, on February 24, 2012, Camellia Grill filed a motion for summary judgment requesting that the License Agreement be terminated retroactively to May 31, 2011, and requested attorney’s fees and costs. In support of its motion for summary judgment, Camellia Grill attached the following exhibits: (1) a copy of the License Agreement; (2) a copy of all the licensed marks; (3) photographs depicting the use of “altered marks” by Grill Holdings; (4) Grill Holdings’ answers to all interrogatories; (5) Grill Holdings’ responses to request for admissions of fact; (6) an April 15, 2008 letter to Grill Holdings putting them on written notice of defaults and requesting that the defaults be cured within fifteen days; (7) a copy of the sublicense agreement between Grill Holdings and Uptown Grill of Destín, L.L.C. executed on May 7, 2009; (8) correspondence from Camellia Grill to Grill Holding, dated April 22, 2009 and May 14, 2009, regarding Grill Holdings’ defaults of the License Agreement; (9) a copy of the sublicense agreement between Grill Holdings and Chartres Grill, L.L.C. executed on January 18, 2011; and (10) a copy of a novelty royalty check in the amount of $197.73 that was never negotiated.

In opposition to the motion for summary judgment, Grill Holdings argues that “the parties tacitly modified the License Agreement when CGH [Camellia Grill] began routinely accepting royalty payments for the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and half of 2011, including a $75,000 cheek on October 8, 2009 for the opening of a new restaurant unit in Destín, Florida.” Grill Holdings argues that |4 Camellia Grill’s allegations of violations are made in bad faith and that the purported violations of the contract are minor technicalities that do not rise to the level of a material breach. Further, Grill Holdings opposed the motion for summary judgment arguing that it is entitled to have its day in court to prove its affirmative defenses of waiver, estoppel, acquiescence, modification of the contract, accord and satisfaction, payment, and ratification. In support of its opposition to summary judgment, Grill Holdings attached as exhibits: (1) a copy of Camellia Grill’s complaint and amended complaint filed in Mississippi, which Camellia Grill dismissed without prejudice; (2) various correspondence between Camellia Grill and Grill Holdings regarding the License Agreement, the trademarks, service marks and the “altered marks,” and the alleged defaults; (3) the deposition of Michael Shwartz; (4) an amended affidavit of Michael Shwartz; (5) a copy of the trademarked logos and dates of renewal; (6) Grill Holdings’ answers to interrogatories, request for production and requests for admission; and (7) an affidavit of Kathie Houte, Grill Holdings’ bookkeeper.

In its reply to the opposition to motion for summary judgment, Camellia Grill argues that the License Agreement is clear and unambiguous and that Grill Holdings failed to provide credible evidence of any factual dispute which would require a trial. Thereafter, Grill Holdings filed a supplement to its opposition to motion for summary judgment and attached as exhibits (1) the May 22, 2012 affidavit of Hichan Khord, and (2) the September 14, 2011 affidavit of Mark Stein.

After a hearing on May 25, 2012, the trial court granted Camellia Grill’s motion for summary judgment, which terminated the License Agreement, effective May 25, 2012, and granted reasonable attorney’s fees, to be determined at a later date, pursuant to the License Agreement.

|5On July 27, 2012, Grill Holdings filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court denied on August 1, 2012. Thereafter, on [298]*298September 21, 2012, the trial court granted Camellia Grill’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs and awarded it $160,176.842. Grill Holdings now appeals this final judgment.

DISCUSSION

Before addressing the merits of the appeal, we will address Grill Holdings’ argument that the trial court abused its discretion in denying its motion for new trial. The applicable standard of review in ruling on a motion for new trial is whether the trial court abused its discretion. Guillory v. Lee, 2009-0075, p.

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120 So. 3d 294, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 1642, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1321, 2013 WL 3204559, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grill-holdings-llc-v-camellia-grill-holdings-inc-lactapp-2013.