World Cam LLC v. Omnibond Systems LLC

CourtDistrict Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedSeptember 9, 2021
Docket8:19-cv-02066
StatusUnknown

This text of World Cam LLC v. Omnibond Systems LLC (World Cam LLC v. Omnibond Systems LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
World Cam LLC v. Omnibond Systems LLC, (D.S.C. 2021).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA ANDERSON/GREENWOOD DIVISION

World Cam, LLC, ) C/A No. 8:19-cv-02066-DCC ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ORDER ) Omnibond Systems, LLC, and Kenneth ) Boyd Slattery , ) ) Defendants and Third-Party Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) World Cam, LLC, and Andrew Slattery, ) ) Third-Party Defendants. ) _____________________________________ )

This matter is before the Court on Defendants Omnibond Systems, LLC (“Omnibond”) and Kenneth Boyd Wilson’s (“Wilson”) (collectively, “the Omnibond Defendants”) Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). ECF No. 59. Plaintiff World Cam, LLC (“World Cam”) filed a Response in Opposition, and the Omnibond Defendants filed a Reply. ECF Nos. 63, 67. For the reasons set forth herein, the Court grants Defendants’ Motion. BACKGROUND On August 6, 2010, Andrew Slattery formed World Cam to operate a proprietary business process he developed for quick oil change facilities. ECF No. 58 ¶ 7. The proprietary business model involves the use of cameras, equipment, cabling, software, technology and services to track, record, monitor, measure, schedule, improve, and expedite wait times, dwell times, service times, service performance, and other aspects of the quick oil change business (the “Proprietary Business Process”). Id. ¶ 8. World Cam sought to combine its camera and technology capabilities to track the amount of time a vehicle spent in a service bay and use this data to improve customer transparency

and promote employee efficiency. Id. After several years of research and development, World Cam directly presented to Valvoline, LLC and Valvoline Instant Oil Change Franchising, Inc. (collectively “Valvoline”), its now-patented Proprietary Business Process and subsequently negotiated its roll out. Id. ¶¶ 9, 11, 74. Thereafter, in April 2017, Valvoline and World Cam entered into a contract (“the Valvoline Agreement”) whereby

World Cam agreed to supply a turn-key, full-service version of the Proprietary Business Process tailored for Valvoline (the “Valvoline Complete Solution”). Id. ¶¶ 6, 12. The Valvoline Agreement provided for an initial term of five years. Id. ¶ 13. To implement portions of the Valvoline Complete Solution, World Cam required corresponding software code to track vehicles as they moved through a service bay. Id.

¶ 15. World Cam ultimately selected Omnibond’s proprietary BayTracker software for installation into computers and resale to Valvoline corporate stores and franchisee-owned stores. Id. ¶ 19. World Cam and Omnibond executed the Reseller Agreement on or around May 22, 2017. Id. ¶ 38. The Reseller Agreement provided for a one-year initial term with either party maintaining the right to terminate the Agreement without cause upon 180 days’ written notice. Id. ¶ 29. On January 24, 2019, Omnibond submitted to

World Cam its Notice of Termination of the Reseller Agreement. Id. ¶ 57. The Notice of Termination resulted in an effective termination date of July 23, 2019. Id. World Cam initiated this action on July 23, 2019. ECF No. 1. The Omnibond Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss on September 6, 2019, which was fully briefed. ECF Nos. 9, 30, 36. Also on September 6, 2019, Omnibond filed a Motion for Preliminary

Injunction, which was fully briefed. ECF Nos. 10, 24, 26. On October 7, 2019, World Cam filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction. ECF No. 25. Omnibond filed a Response in Opposition, and World Cam filed a Reply. ECF Nos. 27, 31. On November 20, 2019, the Honorable Bruce H. Hendricks, United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, issued an Order granting Omnibond’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction and

denying World Cam’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction. ECF No. 39. Thereafter, World Cam filed a Notice of Appeal. ECF No. 40. On January 10, 2020, this action was reassigned to the undersigned. ECF No. 44. On June 22, 2020, the undersigned conducted a hearing on the Motion to Dismiss. ECF No. 50. Subsequently, World Cam filed a Motion for Leave to File an Amended

Complaint. ECF No. 52. The Omnibond Defendants filed a Response in Opposition, and World Cam filed a Reply. ECF Nos. 53, 54. On September 23, 2020, the Court granted the Motion and on October 2, 2020, World Cam filed an Amended Complaint. ECF Nos. 56, 58. Upon the filing of the Amended Complaint, the Motion to Dismiss was terminated as moot. The Omnibond Defendants filed a second Motion to Dismiss on October 16, 2020; World Cam filed a Response in Opposition, and the Omnibond Defendants filed a

Reply. ECF Nos. 59, 63, 67. On November 19, 2020, the Court issued an Order staying ruling on the Motion to Dismiss. ECF No. 69. On June 21, 2021, the Fourth Circuit issued a Mandate and Order dismissing the Notice of Appeal. ECF No. 74. On July 7, 2021, the undersigned lifted the stay based on the voluntary dismissal of the appeal. ECF No. 78. APPLICABLE LAW

Motion to Dismiss Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits the dismissal of an action if the complaint fails “to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Such a motion tests the legal sufficiency of the complaint and “does not resolve contests surrounding the facts, the merits of the claim, or the applicability of defenses . . . . Our inquiry then is limited to whether the allegations constitute ‘a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.’” Republican Party of N.C. v. Martin,

980 F.2d 943, 952 (4th Cir. 1992) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). In a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the Court is obligated to “assume the truth of all facts alleged in the complaint and the existence of any fact that can be proved, consistent with the complaint's allegations.” E. Shore Mkts., Inc. v. J.D. Assocs. Ltd. P'ship, 213 F.3d 175, 180 (4th Cir. 2000). However, while the Court must accept the facts in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, it “need not accept as true unwarranted inferences, unreasonable conclusions, or arguments.” Id. To survive a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the complaint must state “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). Although the

requirement of plausibility does not impose a probability requirement at this stage, the complaint must show more than a “sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). A complaint has “facial plausibility” where the pleading “allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. ANALYSIS

Breach of Contract World Cam brings a breach of contract claim against Omnibond. World Cam contends that the Reseller Agreement is open to different interpretations; therefore, the Court cannot dismiss the Amended Complaint at this procedural posture. ECF No. 63 at 9–13. World Cam’s breach of contract claim rises and falls based on whether the language of § 9.2(d) of the Reseller Agreement is unambiguous.1 It is undisputed that

Omnibond was within its rights to terminate the Reseller Agreement and that it did so pursuant to the contractually specified procedure, resulting in an effective termination date of July 23, 2019. ECF Nos. 59-1 at 11–12; 63 at 5.

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World Cam LLC v. Omnibond Systems LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/world-cam-llc-v-omnibond-systems-llc-scd-2021.