Xerox Corp. v. Lantronix, Inc.

342 F. Supp. 3d 362
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedOctober 31, 2018
Docket6:17-CV-06845 EAW
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 342 F. Supp. 3d 362 (Xerox Corp. v. Lantronix, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Xerox Corp. v. Lantronix, Inc., 342 F. Supp. 3d 362 (W.D.N.Y. 2018).

Opinion

ELIZABETH A. WOLFORD, United States District Judge

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Xerox Corporation ("Plaintiff") commenced this action on December 8, 2017, seeking damages for defendant Lantronix, Inc.'s ("Defendant") alleged breach of its obligations under an indemnification clause to the parties' "Multinational Master Purchase Agreement for Design, Manufacture, and Supply of Wireless Print Adapter" (the "Agreement"). (Dkt. 1). Plaintiff also seeks a declaratory judgment that the Agreement requires Defendant to defend and indemnify Plaintiff in a separate lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. (Id. ). On January 29, 2018, Defendant answered Plaintiff's Complaint and asserted three counterclaims. (Dkt. 8).

On February 19, 2018, Plaintiff filed a motion to dismiss the counterclaims on the ground that Defendant failed to satisfy the prelitigation requirements set forth in the Agreement's "Dispute Resolution" clause. (Dkt. 12). On March 9, 2018, Defendant opposed Plaintiff's motion, and, alternatively, cross-moved to stay the resolution of the motion to dismiss. (Dkt. 18). On June 5, 2018, Defendant filed a motion to amend/correct its counterclaims to allege *365that it had since engaged in good faith negotiations with Plaintiff in full satisfaction of the Dispute Resolution clause. (Dkt. 25; see Dkt. 27-1).

On June 27, 2018, the Court heard argument on each motion. After considering the arguments presented by both sides, the Court ruled from the bench that it granted Defendant's motion to amend/correct its counterclaims, denied Plaintiff's motion to dismiss, and denied as moot Defendant's cross-motion to stay the resolution of the motion to dismiss. (See Dkt. 30). The Court informed the parties that a decision explaining the basis for its determinations would be issued in due course. This Decision and Order is intended to memorialize the Court's analysis in written form.

BACKGROUND 1

Plaintiff alleges that it and Defendant are parties to the Agreement. (Dkt. 1 at ¶ 8; see Dkt. 12-3 (the Agreement) ). The Agreement requires Defendant to provide wireless print adapters for Plaintiff to use within its "multifunction printers." (Dkt. 1 at ¶ 9). Plaintiff claims that the Agreement requires Defendant to "indemnify and hold harmless [Plaintiff] ... from all Claims whatsoever resulting from any alleged or actual infringement of any third party's [intellectual property] Rights" that may arise from the wireless print adapters. (Id. at ¶ 10). The Agreement also requires Defendant to "intervene in or defend any such proceedings" for the violation of a third party's intellectual property rights at Plaintiff's "option and [Defendant]'s expense ... upon notice by [Plaintiff] to [Defendant]." (Id. ).

On March 9, 2017, several non-party individuals filed a complaint against Plaintiff in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (the "Texas Action"). (Id. at ¶ 12). The Texas Action alleged that Plaintiff infringed upon certain registered federal patents, and that these patent violations involved the wireless print adapters supplied by Defendant under the Agreement. (Id. at ¶¶ 13-14).

By letter dated March 29, 2017, Plaintiff demanded that Defendant "fulfill its defense and indemnification obligations under the Agreement." (Id. at ¶ 15). Defendant refused to do so, and, as a result, Plaintiff incurred attorneys' fees and litigation costs in defending the Texas Action. (Id. at ¶¶ 16-17).

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On December 8, 2017, Plaintiff filed this action against Defendant seeking damages for the alleged breach of the Agreement's indemnification clause and a declaratory judgment ordering that Defendant defend and indemnify Plaintiff in the Texas Action. (Id. at ¶¶ 1-2). On January 29, 2018, Defendant answered the Complaint and filed three counterclaims against Plaintiff. (Dkt. 8). Defendant's first counterclaim seeks damages from Plaintiff based upon its alleged violation of the Agreement by failing to purchase 890 wireless print adapters. (Id. at 4-5). Defendant's second counterclaim alleges that Plaintiff breached the jurisdictional and venue provisions of the Agreement by initially filing a complaint requesting indemnification in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas instead of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, or "a New York state court sitting in Monroe County, New York." (Id. at 6). That prior complaint was "voluntarily dismissed" before Plaintiff filed the instant action in this District. (Id. ). The third counterclaim seeks costs *366and attorneys' fees incurred in defending the instant action. (Id. at 7).

On February 19, 2018, Plaintiff filed a motion to dismiss Defendant's counterclaims on the ground that Defendant failed to comply with the Agreement's Dispute Resolution clause. (Dkt. 12-1). That clause provides that Plaintiff and Defendant would "attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute arising out of or relating to [the] Agreement promptly by negotiation between the parties at the appropriate level of management." (Dkt. 12-3 at 9). If those negotiations failed, "then either party [would] provide written notice to the respective authorized representatives of the other party, which [would] be at the next level of management not directly involved in the dispute." (Id. ). If the dispute was not resolved within thirty days of the receipt of that notice, "then the dispute [would] be escalated to designated senior business executives of each party, who [would] have an additional [thirty] days to resolve the dispute." (Id. ). The parties could agree to extensions for these time periods, and nothing in the clause prevented "either party from applying for any interim, interlocutory or preliminary injunctive or declaratory relief; from bringing any claim for contribution or indemnity; or from exercising any rights it has, if any, to cancel [the] Agreement." (Id. ). However, if the dispute remained unresolved "within the timeframes set out above, then either party may bring a legal action or proceeding against any other party arising out of or relating to [the] Agreement" in the Western District of New York, or any New York State court sitting in Monroe County. (Id. ).

On March 9, 2018, Defendant filed its response in opposition to Plaintiff's motion to dismiss, and, alternatively, cross-moved for a stay of Plaintiff's motion. (Dkt. 18). Defendant opposed Plaintiff's motion on three grounds: (1) the Dispute Resolution clause did not apply to compulsory counterclaims; (2) the Dispute Resolution clause did not set forth a condition precedent to asserting a counterclaim in a "legal action or proceeding" that had already been commenced; and (3) the Dispute Resolution clause was unenforceable because it was indefinite and ambiguous. (Id. at 4; see Dkt. 18-5 at 3-9). In the alternative, Defendant cross-moved to stay the resolution of Plaintiff's motion to dismiss in order to permit Defendant time to comply with the provisions of the Dispute Resolution clause and to seek leave to replead the counterclaims once those requirements had been satisfied. (Dkt. 18 at 10-13; see Dkt. 18-5 at 10-12).

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Bluebook (online)
342 F. Supp. 3d 362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/xerox-corp-v-lantronix-inc-nywd-2018.