Opinion ID: 3013538
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Heading: A Contract Involving An Idea Submission Must Be

Text: Definite With Respect To All Essential Terms To Be Enforceable Under New Jersey Contract Law. In fact “[a] contract arises from offer and acceptance, and must be sufficiently definite so ‘that the performance to be rendered by each party can be ascertained with reasonable certainty.’” Weichert Co. Realtors v. Ryan, 608 A.2d 280, 284 (N.J. 1992) (citing West Caldwell v. Caldwell, 138 A.2d 402, 410 (N.J. 1958); Friedman v. Tappan Dev. Corp., 126 A.2d 646, 650-51 (N.J. 1956); Leitner v. Braen, 143 A.2d 256, 259-60 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1958)). Therefore parties create an enforceable contract when they agree on its essential terms and manifest an intent that the terms bind them. West Caldwell, 138 A.2d at 410; see Johnson & Johnson v. Charmley Drug Co., 95 A.2d 391, 397 (N.J. 1953); California Natural v. Nestle Holdings, Inc., 631 F. Supp. 465, 470 (D.N.J.1986). If parties to an agreement do not agree on one or more essential terms of the purported agreement courts generally hold it to be unenforceable. Weichert, 608 A.2d at 284 (citing Heim v. Shore, 151 A.2d 556, 56162 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1959) (holding agreement unenforceable because parties did not agree on terms of payment, principal amount of mortgage, due date, and interest rate)). New Jersey contract law focuses on the performance promised when analyzing an agreement to determine if it is too vague to be enforced. “An agreement so deficient in the specification of its essential terms that the performance by each party cannot be ascertained with reasonable certainty is not a contract, and clearly is not an enforceable one.” Lo Bosco v. Kure Eng’g Ltd., 891 F. Supp. 1020, 1025 (D.N.J. 1995) (citing Malaker Corp. Stockholders Protective Comm. v. First Jersey Nat’l Bank, 395 A.2d 222, 227 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1978)). A contract, therefore, is unenforceable for vagueness when its essential terms are too indefinite to allow a court to determine with reasonable certainty what each party has promised to do. Weichert, 608 A.2d at 284; see West Caldwell, 138 A.2d at 410 (“To be enforceable as a contractual undertaking, an agreement must be sufficiently definite in its terms that the performance to be rendered by each party can be ascertained with reasonable certainty.”). New Jersey law deems the price term, i.e., the amount of compensation, an essential term of any contract. MDC Inv. Prop., L.L.C. v. Marando, 44 F. Supp. 2d 693, 698-99 (D.N.J. 1999) (citing 13 Weichert, 608 A.2d at 287). An agreement lacking definiteness of price, however, is not unenforceable if the parties specify a practicable method by which they can determine the amount. Moorestown Mgmt., Inc. v. Moorestown Bookshop, Inc., 249 A.2d 623, 628 (N.J. Super. Ct. Ch. Div. 1969). However, in the absence of an agreement as to the manner or method of determining compensation the purported agreement is invalid. Weichert, 608 A.2d at 287. Additionally, the duration of the contract is deemed an essential term and therefore any agreement must be sufficiently definitive to allow a court to determine the agreed upon length of the contractual relationship. Lo Bosco, 891 F. Supp. at 1026 (“With regard to contracts for services in return for a percentage of some yet-to-be-determined number, such as profits, sales, etc., the courts [of and in New Jersey] look to whether there are certain dates of commencement and termination.”). The New Jersey Supreme Court explicitly has held that an implied-in-fact contract “must be sufficiently definite [so] that the performance to be rendered by each party can be ascertained with reasonable certainty.” Weichert, 608 A.2d at 284 (citations and internal quotations omitted). If possible, courts will “attach a sufficiently definite meaning to the terms of a bargain to make it enforceable[,]” Paley v. Barton Sav. and Loan Ass’n, 196 A.2d 682, 686 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1964), and in doing so may refer to “commercial practice or other usage or custom.” Lynch v. New Deal Delivery Serv. Inc., 974 F. Supp. 441, 458 (D.N.J. 1997). But the courts recognize that a contract is “unenforceable for vagueness when its terms are too indefinite to allow a court to determine with reasonable certainty what each party has promised to do.” Id. at 457. Baer premises his argument on his view that New Jersey should disregard the well-established requirement of definiteness in its contract law when the subject-matter of the contract is an “idea submission.” He cites extensively to a string of cases from various jurisdictions which he urges support his contention. See, e.g., Wrench L.L.C v. Taco Bell Corp., 256 F.3d 446 (6th Cir. 2001); Nadel v. Play-by-Play Toys & Novelties, Inc., 208 F.3d 368 (2d Cir. 2000); Duffy, 123 F. Supp. 2d 802. Baer contends that these cases support the proposition that “[e]very Circuit that has published on the issue, has upheld implied contract claims where price and duration were absent and a price term was implied as the reasonable value of the ideas conveyed.” Appellant’s br. at 34. 14 Baer’s argument is inaccurate and misleading. He attempts to transform cases where the issues raised pertain to adequacy of consideration and discrepancies over the use of submitted facts, into the proposition that implied-in-fact contracts involving idea submissions need not be sufficiently definite. For example: Wrench, 256 F.3d at 459-63, reversed a summary judgment disposition that held that novelty was required to prove consideration and sustain an implied-in-fact contract claim; Duffy, 123 F. Supp. 2d at 816-19, held that a plaintiff must prove that an idea disclosed to the defendant was novel in order to find consideration for the alleged contract and denied summary judgment because a material issue existed over novelty and use; Nadel, 208 F.3d at 374, reversed a summary judgment granted “only on ground that [the plaintiff’s] idea lacked general novelty and thus would not suffice as consideration” and remanded for the district court to determine “whether the other elements necessary to find a valid express or implied-in-fact contract are present here.” Id. at 382. None of the cases Baer cites holds that there is not a definiteness requirement necessary to create an enforceable contract in idea submission cases. Duffy’s holding is helpful in summarizing the actual law to be derived from the above cited cases: “The existence of novelty to the buyer only addresses the element of consideration necessary for the formation of a contract. Thus, apart from consideration, the formation of a contract will depend upon the presence of other elements.” Duffy, 123 F. Supp. 2d at 818 (citing Nadel, 208 F.3d at 377 n.5). New Jersey precedent does not support Baer’s attempt to carve out an exception to traditional principles of contract law for submission-of-idea cases. The New Jersey courts have not provided even the slightest indication that they intend to depart from their wellestablished requirement that enforceability of a contract requires definiteness with respect to the essential terms of that contract. Accordingly, we will not relax the need for Baer to demonstrate definiteness as to price and duration with respect to the contract he entered into with Chase. 3. The Alleged “Contract” Regardless Of Labels Is Too Vague To Be Enforced. The final question with respect to the Baer’s contract claim, therefore, is whether his contract is enforceable in light of the traditional requirement of definitiveness in New Jersey contract law for a contract to be enforceable. A contract may be expressed in 15 writing, or orally, or in acts, or partly in one of these ways and partly in others. Troy v. Rutgers, 774 A.2d 476, 482-83 (N.J. 2001). There is a point, however, at which interpretation becomes alteration. In re Penn Cent. Transp. Co., 831 F.2d at 1226 (citing Mellon Bank, N.A. v. Aetna Bus. Credit, Inc., 619 F.2d 1001, 1011 (3d Cir. 1980)). In this case, even when all of the parties’ verbal and non-verbal actions are aggregated and viewed most favorably to Baer, we cannot find a contract that is distinct and definitive enough to be enforceable. Nothing in the record indicates that the parties agreed on how, how much, where, or for what period Chase would compensate Baer. The parties did not discuss who would determine the “true value” of Baer’s services, when the “true value” would be calculated, or what variables would go into such a calculation. There was no discussion or agreement as to the meaning of “success” of The Sopranos. There was no discussion how “profits” were to be defined. There was no contemplation of dates of commencement or termination of the contract. And again, nothing in Baer’s or Chase’s conduct, or the surrounding circumstances of the relationship, shed light on, or answers, any of these questions. The district court was correct in its description of the contract between the parties: “The contract as articulated by the Plaintiff lacks essential terms, and is vague, indefinite and uncertain; no version of the alleged agreement contains sufficiently precise terms to constitute an enforceable contract.” Baer, 2004 WL 350050, at . We therefore will affirm the district court’s rejection of Baer’s claim to recover under a theory of implied-in-fact contract.