Welding Eng'rs Ltd. v. NFM/Welding Eng'rs, Inc.

352 F. Supp. 3d 416
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 26, 2018
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 16-4850
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 352 F. Supp. 3d 416 (Welding Eng'rs Ltd. v. NFM/Welding Eng'rs, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Welding Eng'rs Ltd. v. NFM/Welding Eng'rs, Inc., 352 F. Supp. 3d 416 (E.D. Pa. 2018).

Opinion

At issue is whether WEL, by the TTA's provision entitled "Termination of 1998 License Agreement and Cross-License Agreement and Release," relinquished all rights in its corporate name, "Welding Engineers, Ltd.," which it has used since it was incorporated in 1958. Under Pennsylvania contract law, the rules of contract construction govern the interpretation of releases. Bickings v. Bethlehem Lukens Plate , 82 F.Supp.2d 402, 406 (E.D. Pa. 2000) (citing Evans v. Marks , 421 Pa. 146, 218 A.2d 802 (1966), and Three Rivers Motors Co. v. Ford Motor Co. , 522 F.2d 885 (3d Cir. 1975) ). As such, courts endeavor to ascertain the intent of the parties based on "(1) the language of the release and (2) the circumstances surrounding the execution of the release." Bickings , 82 F.Supp.2d at 406 (citing Wenger v. Ziegler , 424 Pa. 268, 226 A.2d 653 (1967) ). Pennsylvania courts have long held that "a release covers only those matters which may fairly be said to have been within the contemplation of the parties when the release was given." Restifo v. McDonald , 426 Pa. 5, 230 A.2d 199, 201 (Pa. 1967). The language of the release is viewed in the context of the entire contract. ILM Sys. v. Suffolk Constr. Co. , 252 F.Supp.2d 151, 158 (E.D. Pa. 2002). Additionally, courts must examine the circumstances surrounding the execution of a release to determine the parties' intent, as such circumstances "clarify the intention of the parties and identify 'matters which may be fairly said to have been within the contemplation of the parties when the release was given.' " Bickings , 82 F.Supp.2d at 406 (quoting Vaughn v. Didizian , 436 Pa.Super. 436, 648 A.2d 38 (1994) ).

With these principles in mind, this Court has reviewed the relevant releases in light of the agreements made. NFM argues that Section 13 of the Cross-License Agreement, which outlined the parties' agreements regarding the use of their respective corporate names, is the sole source of WEL's legal right to use its corporate name and logo. NFM further contends that any rights obtained under the Cross-License Agreement, including the use of the corporate name, were extinguished by the following language of the TTA release:

Each Party hereto voluntarily and with full knowledge of its significance, expressly waives, releases and relinquishes any and all rights with respect to the 1998 License Agreement and/or the Cross-License Agreement it may have under any state or federal statute, rule or common law principle, in law or equity, relating to limitations on general releases, specifically under California Civil Code Section 1542 (or any other law or regulation of similar effect, in any jurisdiction), which provides as follows: "A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR."

(TTA at Section 7.12). NFM's reliance on this provision is misplaced.

When the language in this provision is parsed, it simply means that the parties release any rights they may have "relating to limitations on general releases." The TTA, by way of illustration, cites to California Civil Code Section 1542, which limits general releases from extending to claims unknown at the time of the agreement. As WEL aptly argues in rebuttal, "[t]he purpose of this language is clear and unambiguous: it enables the parties to *431release both known and unknown claims arising under the License Agreement and Cross-License Agreement, as unknown claims cannot be released in some jurisdictions unless that right is waived explicitly." (ECF 57-1 (Pl.'s Br.) at 41). This Court agrees.

This Court finds that the plain language of Section 7.12 of the TTA clearly provides that the parties are releasing their rights relating to limitations on general releases. Section 7.12 cannot be read to state, as NFM suggests, that the parties are releasing any and all rights they have under the License and Cross-License Agreements, including WEL's rights to the use of its corporate name and logo.

This Court further notes the context and circumstances of the execution of the TTA, as it relates to this issue. See Bickings , 82 F.Supp.2d at 406. The TTA does not once mention or discuss any parties' rights to the corporate name and/or logo. Conversely, the Cross-License Agreement contained explicit language establishing the survival of the parties' rights in their respective use of the relevant trademarks. Specifically, Section 13.5 provided: "The provisions of this Section 13 shall survive termination of the license under this Agreement and termination of any other provision herein." (Id. at Section 13.5). Thus, given the plain and unambiguous language of Section 13.5, merely terminating the Cross-License Agreement was insufficient to extinguish any rights WEL had to the use of its corporate name and logo under the Agreement.15 This context renders implausible NFM's contention that by executing the TTA, WEL intended to relinquish all of its rights to its corporate name, which it has used since 1958.

For these reasons, summary judgment is granted in WEL's favor as to Counts I (declaratory judgment as to trademark infringement), II (violations of the Lanham Act), III (common law trademark infringement and unfair competition), and VII (unjust enrichment), of NFM's counterclaims.

Count VI of the Counterclaims - Turbulator Technology

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Bluebook (online)
352 F. Supp. 3d 416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/welding-engrs-ltd-v-nfmwelding-engrs-inc-paed-2018.