Opinion ID: 1189884
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Its Ambiguity

Text: On its face, the 1980 license agreement contains no terms expressly granting or denying Stani the right to Topps chewing gum formulas after April 1996, and its provisions bearing on the issue point in different directions. On the one hand, the agreement states, [t]he TOPPS Trademarks and the TOPPS Technologythe latter defined to include Topps chewing gum formulasshall at all times remain the exclusive property of TOPPS or its assigns. And further, where Paragraph 2 grants Stani the right to use Topps formulas, it grants this right only during the continuance of the agreement. These provisions strongly suggest Stani had no right to continue using Topps formulas after the agreement's April 1996 expiration date. On the other hand, there is no language in the 1980 agreement expressly stating that Stani's right to the formulas would end with the April 1996 expiration date. By way of contrast, this agreement expressly addresses the loss of Stani's right to these formulas in the event of early termination. Hence, the absence of such express language in the agreement with respect to the regular expiration date could be read to mean Stani's rights to the formulas would continue. As a consequence, the 1980 license agreement is amenable to two different interpretations. Because we believe a reasonably intelligent person viewing this agreement objectively could choose either interpretation, we hold the agreement is ambiguous. See Compagnie Financiere, 232 F.3d at 158; Sayers, 7 F.3d at 1095.