Textile v. BMH

From wikilawschool.net. Wiki Law School does not provide legal advice. For educational purposes only.
(Redirected from Textile Unlimited v. ABMH)
Textile v. BMH
Court 9th Circuit
Citation 240 F.3d 781
Date decided February 14, 2001

Facts

  • Textile Unlimited, Inc. = "Textile" = plaintiff = yarn buyer
  • A..BMH and Company, Inc. = "BMH" = defendant = yarn seller
  • Over a 10-month period, Textile bought yarn from BMH in 38 transactions
  • Textile would send purchase orders to BMH which would send back invoices
  • The invoices of BMH would include contract terms differing from the purchase orders of Textile
  • The invoices of BMH stipulated that the acceptance of its yarn product would mean that Textile was accepting the terms of the sale (which contradicted the purchase orders of Textile)
  • Additionally, BMH invoices specified that disputes of the sales would have to be arbitrated in Atlanta, Georgia
  • When 1 shipment contained defective yarns, Textile refused to remunerate BMH

Procedural History

  • BMH submitted its dispute to arbitration because Textile hadn't paid for its yarn shipment
  • Textile sued BMH in a federal district court in the Central District of California to prohibit ("enjoin") the arbitration
  • BMH lost in the district court in California
  • BMH appealed to the 9th Circuit

Issues

In a contract implied by conduct under the UCC, will additional terms on which the parties don't agree drop out of the contract?

Holding

  • Yes. In a contract implied by conduct under the UCC, additional terms on which the parties don't agree will drop out of the contract.
  • The district court in California didn't abuse its discretion in enjoining the arbitration.

Judgment

Affirmed

Reasons

Judge Thomas: The BMH invoice = counter-offer != acceptance

Rule

  • UCC ยง 2-207 governs contract interpretation when the contracting parties have exchange conflicting forms.
  • The UCC doesn't have any arbitration provisions.
  • In contrast, the last-shot rule of the common law is in contradiction of the UCC when it comes to the "battle of the forms."

Resources