Civil Procedure Keyed to Glannon
Dairy Queen, Inc. v. Wood
Facts
Dairy Queen, Inc. (Defendant) and the McCullough partnership (Plaintiff) entered into a licensing contract in which Defendant agreed to pay Plaintiff $150,000 to be able to use the trademark “Dairy Queen” trademark in parts of Pennsylvania. After Defendant defaulted on its payments to Plaintiff, Plaintiff terminated Defendant’s right to use the trademark and sent Defendant a notice of such termination. Despite this termination letter, Defendant continued to use the trademark. Plaintiff sued Defendant for breach of contract. In the complaint, Plaintiff sought “an accounting to determine the exact amount of money owing by [Defendant] and a judgment for that amount.” In the complaint, Plaintiff also demanded a jury trial. However, Defendant filed a motion to strike the demand for a jury trial. The federal district court in Pennsylvania (Judge Wood) granted Defendant’s motion to strike because Plaintiff’s lawsuit was “purely equitable.” The federal district court based its decision on the fact that Plaintiff’s complaint sought “accounting” terms, rather than for damages. Plaintiff appealed to Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which affirmed the district court’s decision. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
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