Opinion ID: 679535
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Common Law Misappropriation Claims

Text: 34 Upon Polymer's renewal of its motion for a preliminary injunction, Polymer amended its complaint to assert the following new theories of liability: (1) unfair competition by misappropriation; (2) unjust enrichment; and (3) tortious interference with contract. All these claims are based on the contractual or implied restriction Polymer claims it placed on its distributors not to sell its professional solution to retailers. Polymer essentially alleges that Mimran, with knowledge of this restriction, fraudulently induced Polymer's lab distributors to supply him with quantities of professional samples which he then sold in the retail market. 35 Polymer seems to admit that there is no clear contractual provision limiting distribution of the professional solutions, but urges that the contract should nonetheless be interpreted as implying a restriction on sales of the professional solution to the retail market. In support of this interpretation, Polymer relies on the contractual obligation of the lab distributors to promote The BOSTON Solution products. 36 Interestingly, the paragraph describing the distributors' responsibility to promote the BOSTON Solutions makes no mention of promotional kits. Furthermore, the contract does contain an explicit limit on the resale and transfer of other BOSTON products. Accordingly, we are skeptical of Polymer's interpretation of the contract. In any event, however, we find the cases cited by Polymer in support of its misappropriation theories wholly distinguishable. 37 In American Airlines v. Christensen, 967 F.2d 410 (10th Cir.1992), the case relied on by Polymer to support its theory of unfair competition, the court enjoined a brokerage firm from purchasing frequent flyer travel awards from customers and reselling them to third parties. The promotional program at issue permitted members to accumulate miles by taking American flights and then trading the miles for travel awards. To obtain the awards, members had to fill out application forms on which they were required to agree that they would not sell, barter, or exchange the awards. Both the applications and the awards clearly stated that the awards would have been void if they were sold, bartered, or exchanged for consideration. 38 Defendants in that case bought awards from members and sold them to third parties who were looking for discount fares. Defendants then helped the third parties evade detection by altering their airline tickets, manufacturing false identification cards for them, and instructing them to lie about how they acquired their tickets. No comparable claims can be made in this case. Aside from the absence of an explicit contractual restriction on the distributor's retail sale of the professional solutions, there is evidence in the record that authorized distributors willingly sold the product to Mimran without receiving assurances that the product would not be diverted to the retail market. Accordingly, Mimran's behavior cannot be compared to that of the defendant in American Airlines who knowingly, in contradiction of a clear contractual restriction between American and its frequent flyer customers, helped third parties surreptitiously buy awards and evade detection by the airline. 39 The above distinctions are equally applicable to Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. The Ticket Exchange, Inc., 793 F.Supp. 976 (W.D.Wash.1992), the case relied on by Polymer to support its claim of unjust enrichment. There, defendant, also a broker of frequent flyer tickets in contravention of an airline's contract with its passengers, knew of the airline's explicit contract with its flyers and counseled its customers in subterfuge. 40 Finally, regarding Polymer's claim of tortious interference with contract, Polymer has presented no cases supporting application of the cause of action where there is no specific contractual provision barring the behavior at issue. 41 Aside from the above flaws in Polymer's new theories of liability, because Polymer could be adequately compensated with money damages if it were to prevail on these claims at trial, Polymer has also failed to convince us that it has suffered irreparable injury. See Loveridge v. Pendleton Woolen Mills, Inc., 788 F.2d 914, 918 (2d Cir.1986) (noting that where money damages are available, there is no irreparable injury, and preliminary injunctive relief must be denied). Given its ability to calculate the number of kits Mimran bought by looking at either Mimran's records, or the records of Polymer's authorized dealers, Polymer's money damages are not indeterminate. Based on the foregoing, we do not find that the district court abused its discretion in denying Polymer's motion for a preliminary injunction.